(RSF/IFEX) – The killings of a camera operator and a bureau chief for Kurdistan-TV, the satellite television station of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), in the space of four days were condemned by RSF as “targeted murders aimed at intimidating a Kurdish news media outlet in Iraq.” On 13 March 2005, camera operator Hussam Hilal […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The killings of a camera operator and a bureau chief for Kurdistan-TV, the satellite television station of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), in the space of four days were condemned by RSF as “targeted murders aimed at intimidating a Kurdish news media outlet in Iraq.”
On 13 March 2005, camera operator Hussam Hilal Sarsam, was kidnapped in Mosul, 380 km north of Baghdad. He was gunned down the next day, as he tried to escape from his abductors. The camera operator was killed four days after the 10 March fatal shooting of Laik Ibrahim, Kurdistan-TV’s bureau chief in Kirkuk, 250 km north of the capital.
“We reiterate that journalists are neutral observers and that it is imperative to protect and respect their work in order to ensure complete and independent news coverage,” RSF said. “A total of 51 journalists and media assistants have lost their lives trying to report the news since the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003, seven of them in Mosul,” the organisation added.
After Sarsam, 27, was kidnapped on 13 March in a busy section of Mosul, his abductors forced him to call one of his colleagues to arrange a meeting. Sarsam reportedly told his colleague, “Come and meet me, I have something important to tell you.” The colleague immediately contacted his superiors who advised him not to go to the meeting. While he was in a car with his kidnappers on the morning of 14 March, Sarsam tried to take advantage of a traffic jam to escape. His abductors shot him four times as he ran away. His body was found in the neighbourhood where he was kidnapped.
Kurdistan-TV’s Mosul bureau has 14 employees, including five reporters and four camera operators. Sarsam joined the bureau in January 2004. He covered a number of sensitive subjects, including the bombings that have taken place in Mosul, in which he filmed witnesses and survivors. His colleagues described him as a “model of courage.”
Reached by telephone, Kurdistan-TV’s Mosul bureau chief, Akram Slimane, told RSF that the station is being targetted because it “tells the truth and nothing but the truth.” Other Kurdistan-TV employees have also received threats. Ibrahim, the station’s Kirkuk bureau chief, was shot dead on 10 March as he drove to his office.
