World Bulletin / News Desk

Egyptian security forces have detained four journalists – who had been covering separate events – over the past week, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

"The crackdown on the press is deepening at a time when the public needs independent reporting on the security threats Egypt is facing," CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said in a statement.

Last Friday, security forces detained Wagdy Khaled, a photographer for Egyptian weekly Al-Masriya, as he took photos outside a mosque in downtown Cairo, according to the New York-based watchdog.

Three other journalists were arrested while covering the arrival of the bodies of nine Muslim Brotherhood members who were killed by security forces last week during a raid in western Cairo.

The four journalists have since been charged with belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egyptian authorities designated a "terrorist" group in late 2013.

"We call on the authorities to release these journalists immediately and drop all charges against them," Mansour said in the statement.

Last month, the CPJ said the Egyptian authorities were holding a total of 18 reporters behind bars – the highest number since the organization began keeping track of the figure in 1990.

According to the CPJ, six journalists have recently been sentenced to life in prison, while several others were being held in pre-trial detention.

Khaled al-Balshy, the head of the Egyptian journalists syndicate’s freedoms committee, for his part, put the number of journalists currently behind bars at 32.

"This comes as part of the ongoing crackdown on the press and freedom of opinion in Egypt," he told Anadolu Agency.