(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed support for the Italian Parliament’s investigation into the murder of Ilaria Alpi, a reporter for the Italian state-run television station RAI 3, and Slovenian cameraman Miran Hrovatin in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 20 March 1994. “These unpunished killings are a stain on the history of press freedom,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed support for the Italian Parliament’s investigation into the murder of Ilaria Alpi, a reporter for the Italian state-run television station RAI 3, and Slovenian cameraman Miran Hrovatin in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 20 March 1994.
“These unpunished killings are a stain on the history of press freedom,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to the head of the commission of inquiry, Carlo Taormina. “You have the authority, the means and the duty to find out the truth. The commission’s work represents the last opportunity to do so.”
The 20-member commission investigating the murders was set up on 31 July 2003 and began its work on 21 January 2004. It has full legal powers and is expected to present its conclusions in September. Ménard asked to be kept informed of the investigation’s progress.
Many factors, including shortcomings, contradictions and vagueness in the initial inquiry, suggest the journalists were murdered for investigating the illegal flow of arms and toxic waste between Italy and Somalia under cover of Italian development aid programmes. The commission’s members have been given the responsibility of examining this lead, which may implicate top political, military and business figures in both countries. The members of parliament are also expected to assess the role played by several Italian institutions in the previous inquiry, which was marred by many irregularities.
At this stage, the commission of inquiry is expected to focus on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of both journalists in order to determine whether the double murder was premeditated. The March 1994 report from an autopsy conducted on Alpi’s body will be taken into account by the commission. The autopsy report, which had been missing for 10 years, says the journalist was executed. Taormina has asked for Alpi’s body to be exhumed so that new tests can be carried out.
On 26 June 2002, a Rome court confirmed that Hashi Omar Hassan, a Somali citizen, had been among the killers. The court commuted his life sentence to 26 years in prison, however, as it did not believe that the murders were premeditated.
RSF will be co-sponsoring the 10th Ilaria Alpi Prize for Investigative Journalism and Independent Filmmaking in Riccione, Italy, from 2 to 5 June 2004. The prize is dedicated to Alpi and Hrovatin.
