Members of the Beheira Journalists' Association staged a silent protest at the Lawyers' Syndicate headquarters in the city on Wednesday to protest the killing of journalist Tamer Abdel Raouf, al-Ahram Newspaper's bureau chief in Beheira.

Abdel Raouf was shot dead in his vehicle at an army checkpoint after curfew on Monday night in Beheira.

Hisham Younes and Khaled al-Belshi, two board members of the journalists' syndicate, attended the protest.

Attendees held banners saying "No to killing journalists".

Egypt's army spokesman said that Abdel Raouf violated the curfew instructions set by the state, and moved fast ignoring the calls made by the security forces to stop the car, which forced them to open fire. 

Journalists are exempt from adhering to the curfew.

Abdel Raouf was returning home from an introductory meeting grouping the province's new governor and journalists on Monday night when a checkpoint asked him to retreat in his car, said Hamed al-Barbary, the Al-Gomhoreya journalist who was with the victim when he was killed.

Barbary told Aswat Masriya on Tuesday that Abdel Raouf did not defy the authorities' orders.

Security forces opened fire on the car on the Cairo-Alexandria Road, killing Abdel Raouf with a shot in the head, even though he followed their instructions and turned the car around as they asked, Barbary said.

Egypt imposed a month-long state of emergency and dusk-to-dawn curfew last Wednesday following violence that swept the country in light of the interim government’s crackdown on supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi. 

The province’s Journalists Association has sent its condolences to Abdel Raouf’s family and released a statement asking top army commander Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to open an investigation with those responsible for the death.