(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has said it is “extremely concerned” about the 28 March 2005 disappearance and probable abduction of three Romanian journalists in a Baghdad suburb. “Reports of disappearances or kidnappings in Iraq must be taken very seriously,” the organisation said. “Experience shows that all journalists, whatever their nationality, can be targeted in this manner. […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has said it is “extremely concerned” about the 28 March 2005 disappearance and probable abduction of three Romanian journalists in a Baghdad suburb.
“Reports of disappearances or kidnappings in Iraq must be taken very seriously,” the organisation said. “Experience shows that all journalists, whatever their nationality, can be targeted in this manner. When it happens, support and action is vital in the first few days. We are therefore losing no time in calling on the Romanian, European, US and Iraqi authorities to do everything possible to find these journalists quickly.”
RSF said at least 17 journalists have been kidnapped in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003. Florence Aubenas, of the French daily newspaper Libération, and her Iraqi guide and interpreter, Hussein Hanoun, have been detained for the past 83 days (see IFEX alerts of 1 March and 7 January 2005).
Reporter Marie Jeanne Ion and cameraman Sorin Dumitru Miscoci, of the Romanian television station Prima TV, and Ovidiu Ohannesian, of the privately-owned daily “Romania Libera”, disappeared on 28 March 2005, five days after arriving in Iraq. Their Iraqi guide, a businessman who normally works in Romania, is also missing.
Prima TV said they received a call from Ion when she and her colleagues were being kidnapped. A station spokesperson said they thought “she was trying to explain to the kidnappers that it would be useless to [carry out the kidnapping] as they were just Romanian journalists who did not have money for a ransom.”
The conversation between the television crew and their kidnappers was conducted partly in English and partly in Arabic, Prima TV said in a statement. “Marie Jeanne also tried to let us know in Romanian that they had been kidnapped and that we should immediately alert the Romanian Embassy in Baghdad. We also managed to understand that they were in a car heading towards Al Hamiryah.”
The independent news agency Mediafax reported that a few minutes after the call, Ion sent a telephone text message that said, “We have been kidnapped. It is not a joke. Help us.”
Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu said he was analysing the reports about the three journalists’ “possible disappearance” in Iraq. Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said “the three journalists have been reported missing in an area known more for criminal activity than kidnappings.” He did not specify what area he was referring to.
A crisis unit was immediately formed in Romania by representatives of the President’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the secret services. No new developments were immediately expected and no ransom demand has yet been received by the authorities.
The apparent kidnapping took place shortly after the three journalists met with Romanian Embassy representatives. They had interviewed Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and were due to interview President Ghazi al-Yawar.
The day before, on 27 March, Romanian President Traian Basescu had visited Romanian troops who are part of the multi-national coalition. He had announced that Romania did not plan to reduce its troops and would continue to participate in the reconstruction and stabilisation of Iraq.
Referring to the journalists’ disappearance on his return to Romanian, Basescu said, “All state structures are on alert and are determined to solve this problem.” He also said the secret services of allied countries had been informed of the situation.
