Introduction
During 1999 87 journalists and media staff were killed or murdered in the course of their work, making it one of the worst years on record. Most died because they were caught up in conflicts in the Balkans, in Sierra Leone, and in Colombia, but unexplained assassinations and murders of reporters and editors account for many of the deaths.
The 1999 total is second only to the horrifying toll of 1994 when wars in Bosnia and genocide in Rwanda were primarily responsible for a sudden surge in killings of journalists. Nevertheless, we end the century on a note of dismay. Despite much talk of ethical principles and human rights, the struggle for press freedom still remains a lofty ambition in many parts of the world.
Once again we highlight the failure of Governments and investigating authorities to give priority to finding and prosecuting those responsible for the assassination of journalists. This remains a major concern. Most killings remain unsolved mysteries. Governments must give proper priority to the investigation of these deaths. When the authorities show reluctance to bring the murderers to justice they give comfort to the enemies of democracy.
The list includes the names of many media support staff who have died alongside journalists. Journalism would be impossible without the help of other mediaworkers, who, like reporters, are exposed to life-threatening risks while working in the field.
The 1999 list reveals a total of 87 deaths, of which 69 have been confirmed and 18 are still under investigation where there may be doubts as to whether a journalist was killed for his work. These deaths are the tip of an iceberg of physical assaults, jailings and disappearances that affect journalists every year. For every death recorded there are numerous instances of intimidation and violence that are not listed.
Some 25 journalists and media workers died in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, alone, of which 16 were victims of the NATO bombing of the Radio Television Serbia building in Belgrade in April.
Actions against independent media by the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have contributed to an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty in the region. Particularly horrifying was the brutal assassination of Devni Telegraf Editor Slavko Curuvija after ferocious criticism of his journalism by the authorities.
The systematic oppression of independent media by the Belgrade regime of Slobodan Milosevic was not diminished by the misguided and reckless decision of NATO to target media during the 1999 bombing campaign. Indeed, this action did not solve the problem of propaganda nor did it prevent the imposition of new legal and political pressures on journalists.
But journalists and media have been targeted everywhere. In India, media came under fire in the violent exchanges on the disputed border with Kashmir and in Chechnya, Russian forces bombed and struck at Chechen media facilities in Grozny. A total of 9 journalists and media staff died in Russia and Chechnya. While some were caught up in the conflict, many of the victims in Russia died at the hands of unknown assassins.
In Africa, the civil war in Sierra Leone claimed some 10 victims among the local community of journalists' and an undeclared civil war in Colombia has led to the death of 6 journalists. At the same time two journalists were brutally killed in East Timor at the hands of Indonesian forces.
The crisis in Colombia has rekindled fears that Latin America journalists remain vulnerable to pressure from criminal gangs and political terrorists. There is a fear that we are slipping back into the dark days of the early 1990s when the killing of journalists became almost a routine business for crooks and terror gangs.
IFJ Killed List 1999
This list was prepared by the International Federation of Journalists and the International Press Institute.
The list contains the total number of killed journalists as known to the IFJ and IPI. However, the number of journalists counted is subject to alteration as a result of ongoing research and investigation.
Further information can be obtained from:
International Federation of Journalists
266 Rue Royal
1210 Brussels
Belgium
Phone: +32 2 223 22 65 - Fax: +32 2 219 29 76
E-mail: ifj@pophost.eunet.be
Cases of Journalists Killed
Country: CHECHNYA
CASENR: 1
Name: Supian Ependiyev
Nationality: Chechen
Profession: Editor-in-Chief
Newsorgan: Groznensky Rabochy
Sector: Press
Date: 29 October 1999
Age:
Source: GDF, IFEX
Description: Editor-in-chief of the newspaper Groznensky Rabochy, on 27 October 1999, in Grozny, Supian Ependiyev, was mortally wounded by rocket fire. After several missiles burst in the middle of town, the journalist went to the scene of action. He intended to prepare a report, but was wounded by fragments of a missile. Ependiyev's condition was very serious when he was taken to the 9th Grozny ER Hospital. On 29 October, he died.
Country: CHECHNYA
CASENR: 2
Name: Ramzan Mezhidov
Nationality: Chechen
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: TV Tsentr
Sector: Television
Date: 29 October 1999
Age: 32
Source: GDF, IFEX, CPJ, TUJO
Description: On October 29, on the road from Grozny to Nazran, during the Russian air bombing of a convoy of trucks, Ramzan Mezhidov, a freelance correspondent with the Moscow TV company TV Center, was killed. He departed for Nazran in order to film a report. In the morning, a Russian aircraft appeared over the convoy. Having dropped bombs, a pilot supposedly noticed a man with a TV camera and shot him down. The journalist was seriously wounded and taken to the Nazran hospital, where he died because of loss of blood. He leaves two small children.
Country: CHECHNYA
CASENR: 3
Name: Shamil Gegayev
Nationality: Chechen
Profession: Cameraman
Newsorgan Nokh Cho
Sector: Television
Date: 29 October 1999
Age:
Source: GDF, IFEX, CPJ, TUJO
Description: Shamil Gegayev, a cameraman for the independent Nokh Cho television station in Grozny, was killed during a Russian air attack on a convoy of refugees fleeing Chechnya on 29 October 1999. He was covering the convoy on route from Grozny to Nazran, in neighbouring Ingushetia. As the convoy approached the Chechen town of Shaami Yurt, a Russian bomber fired several rockets from the air, hitting a busload of refugees. Despite warnings from colleagues travelling with him, Gegayev left his vehicle with his video camera to film the carnage. As he approached the bus, another Russian rocket hit a nearby truck, fatally wounding the journalist.
Country: COLOMBIA
CASENR: 4
Name: Jaime Garzón
Nationality: Colombian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Radionet, Caracol Television
Sector: Radio, Television
Date: 13 August 1999
Age: 36
Source: RSF, IFEX, Periodistas, CPJ, IPI, FIP
Description: On 13 August, Jaime Garzón, a journalist and humorist with Radionet radio station and with channel Caracol Televisión, was shot by two men on a motorcycle as he was heading towards the radio station. The two men managed to flee. A man, speaking on behalf of Colombian United Self Defense (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), claimed responsibility for the assassination in a telephone call. Soon afterwards, in a fax sent to the Radionet studio, the AUC denied having played any role in the attack. According to Garzón's colleagues, Garzón had been threatened by Carlos Castaño, head of the AUC, in previous days. The journalist was known for his intervention in the peace negotiations, having attempted to obtain the release of those kidnapped by guerrilla groups. He also advised and to have the authorities start a dialogue with the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN).
Country: COLOMBIA
CASENR: 5
Name: Guzmán Quintero Torres
Nationality: Colombian
Profession: Editor-in-Chief
Newsorgan: El Pilón
Sector: Press
Date: 16 September 1999
Age: 34
Source: Foundation for Press Freedom, CJFE, IFEX, RSF, WAN, FIP
Description: Guzmán Quintero Torres was assassinated on 16 September 1999, at approximately 10:00 p.m. A photographer and a reporter from the El Pilón periodical were accompanying Quintero Torres to his house and witnessed the attack. A hired assassin intercepted them on Cesar Street, in the city of Valledupar, and shot Quintero Torres three times in the face and once in the chest. Torres was a correspondent for the Televista news programme (broadcast on the Telecaribe regional station), the vice-president of the Valledupar Journalists' Group and the coordinator of the training program for community participation facilitators run by the National Correspondence University, UNAD (antigua Unisur). His primary occupation was editor-in-chief for El Pilón. The periodical was founded four years ago and is the only one that is distributed throughout the Cesar department and in the southern region of the La Guajira department. Quintero Torres was a big fan of journalism and had organised a number of training courses for Valledupar journalists. Previously, he had been employed as the director of the Caracol radio station and as a correspondent for the El Heraldo periodical and the television NTC news programme in the city of Valledupar.
Country: COLOMBIA
CASENR: 6
Name: Rodolfo Julio Torres
Nationality: Colombian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Radio Fuente
Sector: Radio
Date: 21 October 1999
Age: 38
Source: CPJ, IFEX, RSF, WAN, AP, Freedom House, FIP
Description: Radio journalist Rodolfo Julio Torres, was brutally murdered in the town of San Onofre, Sucre Department. In the early hours of 21 October, five individuals arrived at Torres' home. They drove the 38-year-old journalist to the outskirts of town. After shooting him six times, they left him dead by the side of the road. Torres worked for the Cartagena radio station Fuente. He also worked as the press secretary for a recently elected mayor. He was formerly a correspondent with Radio Caracolí in Sincelejo, the capital of Sucre Department, and with the Sincelejo daily Meridiano. Torres' colleagues are convinced he was assassinated in reprisal for his outspoken reporting.
Country: COLOMBIA
CASENR: 7
Name: Luis Alberto Rincón Solano
Nationality: Colombian
Profession: Journalist / Freelance cameraman
Newsorgan:
Sector: Television
Date: 28 November 99
Age:
Source: EJC Media News, Prensa Libre, IFEX, RSF, IPI, WAN, FIP
Description: On 28 November, at 9:00 a.m., the bodies of journalists Alberto Rincón and Sánchez Tovar were found five kilometres from the city of El Playón, Santander department. Both journalists were shot at point-blank range. Alberto Sánchez Tovar was shot twice in the head and Luis Rincón was shot once in the temple. Cartridges for a nine-millimetre pistol were found at the scene of the crime. According to the wife of Sánchez Tovar, he left his house "at about six in the morning". The two men were heading to El Playón to cover the municipal elections at the request of José Jaimes Caballeros, one of the candidates. Sánchez Tovar was the director of his own production company, Producciones de Colombia Ltd. He had hired freelance cameraman Alberto Rincón, who had worked for the production company Comuneros Televisión two years earlier, and also for Teleoriente. The journalists' photographic and video cameras were stolen by their murderers. Police suspect that the criminals were attempting to disguise the murder as a theft. Investigators suspect the paramilitary Colombian United Self Defense (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC), who are fighting against guerrilla groups for control of the region.
Country: COLOMBIA
CASENR: 8
Name: Alberto Sanchéz Tovar
Nationality: Colombian
Profession: Journalist / Owner
Newsorgan: Producciones Colombia
Sector: Television
Date: 28 November 1999
Age:
Source: EJC Media News, Prensa Libre, IFEX, RSF, IPI, WAN, FIP
Description: (see previous case 7)
Country: COLOMBIA
CASENR: 9
Name: Pablo Emilio Medina Motta
Nationality: Colombian
Profession: Cameraman
Newsorgan: TV Garzon
Sector: Television
Date: 6 December 1999
Age: 19
Source: Prensa Libre, FIP, ECJ Media News, CPJ, RSF, WAN
Description: Pablo Emilio Medina Motte was filming in Gigante when guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attacked the town. According to local journalists, Mr. Medina Motte mounted a motorcycle with a commander from the police intelligence service and was shot while attempting to film the fighting.
Country: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
CASENR: 10
Name: Manuel de Jesus Gonzalez
Nationality: Dominican
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Radio Azua
Sector: Radio
Date: 30 June 1999
Age:
Source: SNTP
Description: Manuel de Jesus Gonzalez was shot down and killed instantly on June 30. His wife and mother were with him when it happened.
Country: EAST TIMOR
CASENR: 11
Name: Sander Thoenes
Nationality: Dutch
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Financial Times, Vrij Nederland
Sector: Press
Date: 22 September 1999
Age:
Source: IFJ, IFEX, RSF, AJI, CPJ, Norwegian Forum for Freedom of Expression, NVJ
Description: Sander Thoenes was killed and his body mutilated, after he and his driver approached a roadblock on the road to Becora, a pro-independence suburb of Dili. He was a passenger on a motorbike. It is also claimed that the driver of the motorbike returned to Dili, and reported that the militia was not involved in the attack. He told reporters only Indonesian soldiers were at the roadblock.
Country: EAST TIMOR
CASENR: 12
Name: Agus Muliawan
Nationality: Indonesian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Asia Press International
Sector: Television
Date: 25 September 1999
Age: 26
Source: CPJ, IFEX, IFJ, RSF, AJI, WAN
Description: Agus Muliawan was among a group of nine people massacred by Indonesian troops in East Timor on Saturday 25 September 1999, according to wire service reports. He was working with the Tokyo-based news organisation Asia Press International. He had been in East Timor for more than two months, working on a television documentary about Falintil, the largest of several East Timorese guerrilla groups that favour independence from Indonesia. Muliawan was travelling by van with a group that included the head of the Caritas Roman Catholic aid agency, two students at the local seminary, two nuns, two assistants to the nuns and a driver, according to the bishop of Baucau, Basilio das Nacimento, who was quoted by Reuters. Indonesian troops apparently ambushed the group after nightfall in the town of Com, as they drove from Lospalos to Baucau to assess humanitarian needs there. Seven bodies were found floating in the Raomoko River 38 miles from Baucau. Two bodies were found in the van, which had been pushed into the river.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 13
Name: Enver Maloku
Nationality: Kosovar
Profession: Editor-in-Chief, Chief Kosovo Information Centre
Newsorgan: Informatore
Sector: Press
Date: 11 January 1999
Age:
Source: Belgrade Media Centre, IJC Media News, IFEX, ANEM, AMARC, CPJ, IPI
Description: The chief of the Kosovo Information Center, Enver Maloku, was killed on January 11, in Pristina. Maloku was shot by unidentified persons outside his house in the Pristina suburb Suncani Breg, at 4.10 p.m. After he was wounded, Maloku was taken to the Pristina clinic where he died. The Kosovo Information Center (KIC) announced that he was shot from a moving car with three persons in it. The Media Center announcement states that the police are looking for Maloku's killers. Maloku was a close associate of Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova and a member of the Kosovo Democratic Alliance presidency.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 14
Name: Slavko Curuvija
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Publisher/Owner
Newsorgan: Dnevni Telegraf, Evropljanin
Sector: Press
Date: 11 April 1999
Age: 51
Source: RSF, IFEX, GHM, WAN, IPI
Description: Curuvija was shot dead at the entrance of the building he lived in, according to a police statement, which added that police were searching for the perpetrators of the crime. Earlier, a well-informed source told the AFP that two unidentified gunmen opened fire on Curuvija as he was entering his home. His wife, who was with him, was knocked down by one of the attackers.
Additional: Dnevni Telegraf was banned last fall, following the introduction of a strict media law in Serbia forbidding the publishing of any material considered subversive. The daily was critical of the regime of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Curuvija had been prosecuted several times in recent months. Banned in Serbia, the daily continued to be published in Montenegro, with copies "smuggled" into Serbia.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 15
Name: Tomislav Mitrovic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Programme Director
Newsorgan: Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS)
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 39
Source: CPJ, IFEX, IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: One of a number of casualties of the NATO missile attack against state-run Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) in Belgrade. The attack destroyed RTS's main newsroom and studios, knocking it off the air for several hours. The attack was widely condemned. The IFJ protested strongly because NATO had earlier provided a written assurance to the IFJ that Media would not be targeted. This was revoked without warning.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 15
Name: Ivana Stukalo
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Foreign Programming
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 34
Source: CPJ, IPI, IFEX, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 15)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 17
Name: Slavisa Stevanovic
Nationality: Yugoslav
Profession: Foreign Programming
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 32
Source: CPJ, IFEX, IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 15)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 18
Name: Zhu Ying
Nationality: Chinese
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Guangming Daily
Sector: Press
Date: 10 May 1999
Age: 27
Source: IFJ, IFEX, CPJ, IPI, RSF
Description: Three journalists were killed when NATO bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. Shao Yuhuan of Xinhua News Agency, Xu Xinghu of Guangming Daily and Zhu Ying of Guangming Daily were all in the Chinese embassy at the time it was attacked.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 19
Name: Shao Yuhuan
Nationality: Chinese
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Xinhua News Agency
Sector: Wire
Date: 10 May 1999
Age: 48
Source: IFJ, IFEX, CPJ, IPI, RSF
Description: (see previous case 18)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 20
Name: Xu Xinghu
Nationality: Chinese
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Guangming Daily
Sector: Press
Date: 10 May 1999
Age: 29
Source: IFJ, IFEX, CPJ, IPI, RSF
Description: (see previous case 18)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 21
Name: Gabriel Gruener
Nationality: German
Profession: Correspondent
Newsorgan: Stern
Sector: Press
Date: 13 June 1999
Age: 35
Source: CPJ, IPI, RSF
Description: The journalists, Volker Kraemer and Gabriel Gruener were in Kosovo on assignment for the German magazine Stern. They and their interpreter, Senol Alit, were returning by car to Macedonia when they encountered sniper fire outside Dulje, 25 miles south of Pristina. The journalists tried to flee on foot and were hit from long-range. Kraemer was killed instantly by a shot to the head; Gruener was hit in the abdomen and died in a helicopter while being taken to a hospital in Tetova, Macedonia. Alit, who was driving the car, was also killed. His body was found lying next to the car.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 22
Name: Volker Kraemer
Nationality: German
Profession: Photographer
Newsorgan: Stern
Sector: Press
Date: 13 June 1999
Age: 56
Source: CPJ, IPI, RSF
Description: (see previous case 21)
Country: INDIA
CASENR: 23
Name: Shivani Bhatnagar
Nationality: Indian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Indian Express
Sector: Press
Date: 23 January 1999
Age:
Source: CPJ, IFEX, IPI, WAN
Description: On 23 January 1999, unknown assailants entered Bhatnagar's East Delhi apartment, strangled her with a length of wire, and then stabbed her in the neck and abdomen with kitchen knives. Bhatnagar had been at home alone with her three-month old son, Tanmay, who was not harmed. Police estimated that she was killed at 3:30 in the afternoon. They said that just prior to the attack, she had telephoned her husband, Rakesh Bhatnagar, legal editor for the English-language daily Times of India, telling him that two men had stopped by to deliver an invitation to a wedding in Chandigarh. Police said the drawing room table had been laid with snacks as if Bhatnagar was entertaining guests. Bhatnagar was a member of the special investigations team at the Indian Express. News reports speculated that her killers might have been attempting to recover certain incriminating documents. Two rooms in the residence had apparently been ransacked. Police ruled out robbery as a motive.
Country: INDIA
CASENR: 24
Name: N. A. Lalrohlu
Nationality: Indian
Profession: Editor
Newsorgan: Shan
Sector: Press
Date: 10 October 1999
Age: 35
Source: RSF, IFEX, WAN
Description: On 10 October, N. A. Lalrohlu, editor of local vernacular newspaper Shan, was shot by suspected militants of separatist movements in Manipur state. The 35-year-old journalist was murdered along with three other people after they were abducted by at least 50 militants. Before his death, he published articles containing criticism of the militia groups.
Country: INDONESIA
CASENR: 25
Name: Supriadi
Nationality: Indonesian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Medan Pos
Sector: Press
Date: 5 August 1999
Age: 34
Source: RSF, IFEX, CPJ, IPI, WAN
Description: Supriadi, 34, was found hacked to death on 5 August in Buki Hagu village (in the North Aceh district). He had several head injuries. His wife said that he had been abducted from their house late Tuesday 3 August by two unidentified men. According to Medan Pos' chief editor, Supriadi had been working on stories about corruption in an agricultural project for small farmers.
Country: LEBANON
CASENR: 26
Name: Ilan Roeh
Nationality: Israeli
Profession: Correspondent
Newsorgan: Kol Israel
Sector: Radio
Date: 28 February 1999
Age:
Source: WAN, IPI, RSF, CPJ
Description: Ilan Roeh was killed in a terrorist attack which also killed General Erez Gerstein and two sub-officers in a zone occupied by Israeli troops to the south of Lebanon.
Country: NIGERIA
CASENR: 27
Name: Bolade Fasasi
Nationality: Nigerian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: The Guardian
Sector: Press
Date: 7 April 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX, WAN, IPI, IPC Nigeria
Description: Bolade Fasasi, a female journalist who was treasurer of the Lagos State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists and an active member of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), was shot dead on 7 April 1999 by three unknown gunmen in Nigeria's second biggest city, Ibadan.
Country: NIGERIA
CASENR: 28
Name: Fidelis Ikwuebe
Nationality: Nigerian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: The Guardian
Sector: Press
Date: 18 April 1999
Age:
Source: IJC, IFEX, CPJ, RSF, WAN
Description: Fidelis Ikwuebe, a freelance journalist who was allegedly kidnapped on 4 April 1999 during bloody inter-communal clashes in Aguleri - Umuleri in the Anambra East Local Government area of Anambra state, has been confirmed dead. Reports said the journalist, along with a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Ezinifite in the Nnewi South Local Government area of Anambra state, Peter Udekwe, was kidnapped during the crisis. The police chief was said to have been sacrificed to a local deity in Umuleri while the journalist was murdered in cold blood.
Country: NIGERIA
CASENR: 29
Name: Sam Nimfa-Jan
Nationality: Nigerian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Details
Sector: Press
Date: 24 May 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX, CPJ, IPI, WAN
Description: Sam Nimfa-Jan, a journalist with Details magazine, was killed in Plateau state (east of the capital, Abuja) by a mob during clashes between two ethnic groups. The journalist was covering a march and riots between the Hausa-Fulani and the Zangon-Kataf. He was reportedly killed by a mob armed with arrows, cutlasses and farm implements.
Country: NIGERIA
CASENR: 30
Name: Samuel Boyi
Nationality: Nigerian
Profession: Photographer
Newsorgan:
Sector: Press
Date: 5 November 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX, WAN
Description: Samuel Boyi, a journalist with the Adamawa state-owned newspaper was killed when unidentified armed bandits attacked the convoy of the Adamawa state governor, Haruna Bonnie, who was on his way from Yola to Bauchi.
Country: PAKISTAN
CASENR: 31
Name: Nawaz Zulfiqar Memon
Nationality: Pakistani
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: The Daily Nation
Sector: Press
Date: 16 December 1999
Age: 29
Source: PPF, IFEX, IPI
Description: Nawaz Zulfiqar Memon, a district reporter for The Daily Nation in Thatta, had gone to Islamabad in a bid to seek justice from Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf when he was taken into custody by law enforcement agencies. The journalist was subjected to severe torture, was rendered unconscious for three days, and died in Thatta on 16 December 1999. Memon had gone to the police to report a disturbance. He had seen a group of criminals blocking a school van. Hurling abuse, the hooligans attacked the driver. Memon asked them to let the driver go, along with the van carrying the children and female teachers. They beat him and fled the scene. One of the attackers was identified. Memon met with the local police chief but no official was willing to register a First Information Report (FIR). He travelled to Islamabad on Friday 3 December in a bid to meet General Pervez Musharraf to seek justice. He was subsequently detained by law enforcement officers, and taken to the airport police station where he was severely tortured for three days. On receiving information of his son's circumstances, the journalist's father, Hassan Ali Memon, went to Islamabad, obtained his son's release and brought him back to Thatta where he remained unconscious for three days and later died.
Country: PERU
CASENR: 32
Name: Felix Haro Rodriguez
Nationality: Peruvian
Profession: Radio Broadcaster, Photographer
Newsorgan: Radio 1160
Sector: Radio
Date: 2 June 1999
Age:
Source: IPI, IFEX, IPYS, WAN
Description: Felix Haro Rodriguez was found dead several days after having disappeared. The method of his killing with machetes suggests that the Maoist terrorist group, the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), was responsible although the identity of the killers remains unknown. Felix Haro had been missing since 2 June, when two unknown individuals arrived at his home under the pretence of hiring him to take photographs at a social event. After an intensive search, his dismembered body was discovered in Cotomonillo, three kilometres from Aucayacu, where six villagers were recently assassinated by a brigade of the Shining Path. Additional: Felix Haro's radio programme featured traditional music, although he also informed listeners about problems in the region, including corruption among political authorities, the police and military, as well as the activities of terrorists and drug traffickers.
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 33
Name: Gennady Bodrov
Nationality: Russian
Profession: Photo Journalist
Newsorgan: Kursky Vestnik
Sector: Press
Date: 19 February 1999
Age:
Source: GDF
Description: Gennady Bodrov was murdered in Kursk. He had received a telephone invitation to take pictures of a wedding party. Camera in hand, he got in a car that was waiting for him, and was driven away. He never came home. On February 16, his mother and friends, having searched for him in vain, reported his absence to the police. On February 19, Gennady Bodrov's body with signs of violent death was found in a forest on the outskirts of Kursk.
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 34
Name: Andrei Polyakov
Nationality: Russian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Rossiisky Advokat
Sector: Press
Date: 4 March 1999
Age:
Source: GDF
Description: The body of Andrei Polyakov, press secretary of the magazine Rossiisky Advokat, was found in one of the buildings in Moscow's Dmitry Donskoy Boulevard. The journalist had been stabbed to death by an unidentified person in an elevator.
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 35
Name: Vadim Rudenko
Nationality: Russian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Chelovek I Zakon
Sector: Television
Date: 30 June 1999
Age:
Source: GDF
Description: Vadim Rudenko was found dead in his own apartment in Moscow. His neighbours, choking from the smoke that came from behind the journalist's door, had called the fire brigade. But the police say the man had received several knife wounds before his home was set on fire.
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 36
Name: Lyubov Loboda
Nationality: Russian
Profession: Editor
Newsorgan: Vesti
Sector: Press
Date: 30 August 1999
Age:
Source: GDF
Description: Lyubov Loboda, editor of the district newspaper Vesti, was killed in the city of Kuybyshev, Novosibirsk region, on 30 August. Her body with three knife stabs was found in Panshev Street. On 14 September, the Novosibirsk law-enforcement bodies announced that Lyubov Loboda's case was closed. According to the Kuybyshev police, her suspected killer, together with his hirer and an intermediary, had been tracked down, arrested, and taken to the investigation prison in Kuybyshev. Ms. Loboda's assassination appears to have been ordered by the editor of a rival newspaper.
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 37
Name: Oleg Chervonyuk
Nationality: Russian
Profession: Publisher
Newsorgan: Novosti St. Petersburg
Sector: Press
Date: 28 October 1999
Age:
Source: WAN
Description: Oleg Chervonyuk, founder and publisher of the newspaper Novosti St. Petersburg, was shot dead on the doorstep of his appartment building. His brother Sergei also died from multiple gunshot wounds in the attack that is thought to be a contract killing by hired professionals.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 38
Name: Jenner Cole
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: SKY-FM 106
Sector: Radio
Date: 9 January 1999
Age: 34
Source: CPJ, IFEX, RSF, WAN, IPI
Description: Jenner "J.C." Cole, who was killed by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels on 9 January 1999, was an on-air broadcaster with SKY-FM (106). He had previously worked with the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS). Cole leaves a son and pregnant fiancé, a mother, father, two brothers and two sisters.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 39
Name: James Oguogo
Nationality: Nigerian
Profession: Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Newsorgan: Concord Times
Sector: Press
Date: 8 January 1999
Age:
Source: IFEX, IPI, RSF, WAN, CPJ, IPC Nigeria
Description: James Oguogo, a Nigerian journalist for the independent Concord Times, was murdered by RUF rebels in Freetown on the evening of January 8. An eyewitness reported that a group of rebels sought out Ogogo at the newspaper's offices on Pademba Road, shouting that they were "looking for the Nigerian journalist". He was tied to the back of a truck and dragged in the direction of the State House. Before reaching the State House, the rebels stopped the truck, untied Ogogo, and told him to start walking. They then opened fire and killed him. RUF rebels regarded Nigerian journalists as partisans of the Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force (ECOMOG), brought in to support government troops in the ongoing civil war in Sierra Leone.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 40
Name: Mohamed Kamara
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Kiss 104 FM
Sector: Radio
Date: 9 January 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX, CPJ, IPI, WAN
Description: Kamara was shot dead by RUF rebels on Siaka Stevens Street in central Freetown.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 41
Name: Paul Abu Mansaray
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Profession: Deputy Editor
Newsorgan: Standard Times
Sector: Press
Date: 9 January 1999
Age:
Source: CPJ, IFEX, WAN, IPI, RSF
Description: On 9 January 1999, Paul Mansaray, deputy editor of the Standard Times, his wife, two young children, and an unnamed nephew were all murdered by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels at his residence on Andrews Street, in Calabar Town, in the east end of Freetown. An unnamed fellow journalist, who was with Mansaray and his family at the time, saw the RUF rebels approaching the house and immediately alerted Mansaray. The journalist then jumped from a window as Mansaray was alerting his family to flee, and escaped to a neighbour's house. Mansaray and his family were unable to escape before the RUF rebels arrived on the scene. From the neighbour's residence, the rebels were overheard shouting at and threatening Mansaray about his journalistic work. They then fled the premises and set the house ablaze, firing their weapons into the house as it burned to the ground with Mansaray and his family trapped inside.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 42
Name: Myles Tierney
Nationality: American
Profession: Television Producer
Newsorgan: Associated Press
Sector: Wire/Television
Date: 10 January 1999
Age: 34
Source: RSF, IFEX, CPJ, IPI, WAN
Description: Myles Tierney was shot and killed on the afternoon of 10 January in Freetown. His colleague, Ian Stewart, Canadian chief of the AP regional bureau in Abidjan, was seriously injured during the attack. The two journalists were travelling in a convoy of the ECOMOG force (West African regional intervention force) with Information Minister Julius Spencer. They were allegedly attacked by a group of rebels wearing ECOMOG uniforms.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 43
Name: Abdul Juma Jalloh
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Profession: Editor
Newsorgan: African Champion
Sector: Pres
Date: 3 February 1999
Age:
Source: CPJ, IFEX, WAN, IPI, RSF
Description: On 3 February 1999 at 3:00 p.m., Abdulai Jumah Jalloh, news editor of the independent newspaper African Champion, was killed by a West African Peacekeeping Forces (ECOMOG) soldier in central Freetown. Jalloh was in the company of African Champion editor Mohammed D. Koroma, en route to print the newspaper at the John Love Printing Company when a Sierra Leone Civil Defense Force (CDF) officer named Abass saw Jalloh and stated that Jalloh resembled someone who owed him money. Abass then approached a group of ECOMOG soldiers who were nearby. The ECOMOG soldiers ordered Jalloh and Koroma to approach the area where they were discussing the matter with Abass. The soldiers told Jalloh that Abass had identified him as a Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel and that, according to Abass, Jalloh had been responsible for setting houses on fire in Kissy, in the East End of Freetown. Jalloh denied the accusation, as did Koroma, who also told the soldiers that Jalloh was actually living with him because Jalloh's house in Kissy had been burned in an arson attack a few weeks earlier by RUF rebels. The ECOMOG soldiers refused to accept Jalloh's and Koroma's statements, saying that the CDF officer had no reason to lie and therefore it must be true that Jalloh was an RUF rebel. Koroma was warned that if he defended Jalloh any longer he would be executed. An unidentified ECOMOG officer then took Jalloh aside and murdered him at point-blank range.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 44
Name: Conrad Roy
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Profession: News Editor
Newsorgan: Expo Times
Sector: Press
Date: 30 April 1999
Age:
Source: CPJ, IFEX, IPI, RSF, WAN
Description: Conrad Roy, former news editor of the proscribed Expo Times, died after contacting tuberculosis in Freetown's central prison. The Sierra Leone government shut down the newspaper in 1997, claiming that it was run by sympathisers of the Revolutionary United Front rebel movement. In December 1998, Roy appeared at the Magistrate's Court where he was charged with treason, aiding and abetting the enemy, and conspiring to overthrow the government. Roy was released from prison during the RUF occupation of Freetown in January 1999. After the RUF was forced to retreat from the city in February, he was arrested by soldiers of ECOMOG. Roy contracted tuberculosis in prison. He received no medical treatment until April 26, four days before his death.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 45
Name: Alpha Amadu Bah Bah
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan:
Sector:
Date:
Age:
Source: WAN, RSF, IFEX
Description: Independent journalist Alpha Amadu Bah Bah was murdered by rebels at his home in Freetown. He was stabbed then shot to death in front his family.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 46
Name: Mabay Kamara
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Vision
Sector: Press
Date: January 1999
Age:
Source: WAN, RSF, IFEX, CPJ
Description: Mabay Kamara, a free-lance reporter who contributed to the now defunct newspaper Vision, was abducted by RUF rebels from his house on Soldier Street near the State House in central Freetown and subsequently murdered. A female RUF commander ordered Kamara's abduction, which was witnessed by his wife. Rebels set the Kamara residence on fire before leaving the area.
Country: SIERRA LEONE
CASENR: 47
Name: Munir Turay
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Punch, Daily Mail, SLBS
Sector: Press, Radio
Date: 6 January 1999
Age:
Source: CPJ, RSF, IFEX, IPI, WAN
Description: Munir Turay, was a free-lance reporter who wrote for the independent newspaper Punch and the state-owned newspaper Daily Mail and had also worked as a correspondent for the state-owned Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) radio station. He was killed on January 6 in Kissy, in the East End of Freetown. Colleagues who attended Turay's funeral on February 9 reported that there were bullet holes in his body.
Country: SRI LANKA
CASENR: 48
Name: Anura Priynatha Kooray
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Independent Television Network (public)
Sector: Television
Date: 18 December 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX
Description: Anura Priynatha Kooray, journalist with the Independent Television Network (public), was killed on 18 December during a suicide bombing at a rally of the ruling party in Colombo. President Kumaratunga was delivering a speech at the conclusion of the rally, which was organised in the context of presidential elections scheduled for 21 December. The bomb killed 21 people and injured some 50 others, including the state leader. Police suspect separatists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of being behind the attack.
Country: TURKEY
CASENR: 49
Name: Cetin Gunes
Nationality: Turkish
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Hedef (Target)
Sector: Press
Date: 27 March 1999
Age: 28
Source: WAN, IPI
Description: Cetin Gunes, a columnist with the far-left periodical Hedef, died in an Ankara hospital as a result of a serious heart condition that had plagued him for some time. Gunes had been on a hunger strike in an Ankara prison when he was transferred to the hospital. Gunes was detained for questioning on July 5, 1998, and was sentenced to one year and four months in prison for "separatist propaganda" under Article 8 of the Anti-terrorist Law. The charges followed the publication in September 1994 of an article in the far-left monthly Sosyalist Alternatif, entitled, "The role and characteristics of a militant of the Turkish revolution".
Country: TURKEY
CASENR: 50
Name: Ahmed Taner Kislali
Nationality: Turkish
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Cumhuriyet
Sector: Press
Date: 21 October 1999
Age:
Source: IFJ, IFEX, WAN, CPJ, RSF
Description: Ahmed Kislali, a former Culture Minister in Turkey, died after a bomb explosion wrecked his car in Ankara. He appears to have been the victim of religious fanatics who killed him because of critical journalism against Islamic fundamentalism.
Total Journalists Killed: 50
Cases of Mediaworkers Killed
Country: BURMA
CASENR: 1
Name: U Hla Han
Nationality: Burmese
Profession:
Newsorgan: Kye Mon (The Mirror)
Sector: Press
Date: 27 September 1999
Age: fifties
Source: Burma Peace Foundation, Burma Courier, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
Description: It has been reported that U Hla Han, a media worker with Kye Mon, died on September 27 after being tortured.
Country: BURMA
CASENR: 2
Name: U Tha Win
Nationality: Burmese
Profession:
Newsorgan: Kye Mon (The Mirror)
Sector: Press
Date: 2 October 1999
Age:
Source: Burma Peace Foundation, Burma Courier, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
Description: The family of U Tha Win, a mediaworker with Kye Mon, was informed of his death on October 2 and permitted to see his body before cremation. They had a glimpse only of his badly bruised face. Afterwards they were given 10,000 kyat ($US 27) to assist with the costs of his burial rites.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 3
Name: Nenad Stojkovic
Nationality: Kosovar
Profession: Driver
Newsorgan:
Sector:
Date: 28/03/99
Age: 27
Source: ANEM, IFEX
Description: According to Pristina's Media Centre, Nenad Stojkovic, 27, was killed by a sniper on the road from Pristina to Podujevo that morning as he was driving a crew of Russian journalists to Belgrade. The journalists, Alexander Pobrakov and Sergey Patnikov, were not injured.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 4
Name: Ksenija Bankovic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Video Mix
Newsorgan: Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS)
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 28
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: A victim of NATO's missile attack against state-run Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) in Belgrade that destroyed RTS's main newsroom and studios, knocking it off the air for several hours.
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 5
Name: Jelica Munitlak
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Make-up Artist
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 28
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 6
Name: Milovan Jankovic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Technician
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 59
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 7
Name: Dragan Tasic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Technician
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 31
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 8
Name: Aleksandar Deletic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Camera
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 31
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 9
Name: Darko Stoimenovski
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Technician, International Planning
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 26
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 10
Name: Nebojsa Stojanovic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Technician
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 27
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 11
Name: Slobodan Jontic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Equipment
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 59
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry Of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 12
Name: Dejan Markovic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Security
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 40
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 13
Name: Milan Joksimovic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Security
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 47
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 14
Name: Branislav Jovanovic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Programme Operator
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 50
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 15
Name: Sinisa Medic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Programme Design
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 33
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 16
Name: Dragorad Dragojevic
Nationality: Serbian
Profession: Security
Newsorgan: RTS
Sector: Radio and Television
Date: 23 April 1999
Age: 27
Source: IPI, FRY Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Description: (see previous case 4)
Country: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
CASENR: 17
Name: Senol Alit
Nationality:
Profession: Interpreter
Newsorgan:
Sector:
Date: 13 June 1999
Age:
Source: IPI, CPJ
Description: Senol Alit was killed by sniper fire together with journalists Volker Kraemer and Gabriel Gruener, on assignment for the German magazine Stern. Alit was acting as their interpreter and was driving the car as they came under attack.
Country: NIGERIA
CASENR: 18
Name: John Musa
Nationality: Nigerian
Profession:
Newsorgan: Standard
Sector: Press
Date: 28 April 1999
Age:
Source: IJC, IFEX, IPI
Description: Media worker John Musa was killed in Maiduguri, Borno state, on 28 April 1999, when policemen clashed with protesting Borno state civil servants who are on strike to press for a N3,000 (US$32) minimum wage. Musa was a member of the circulation staff of the Jos-based Plateau state publishing company which publishes the Standard newspaper. Musa, described as asthmatic, was said to have choked to death because of teargas used by the police in dispersing the protesting workers.
Country: SRI LANKA
CASENR: 19
Name: Indika Paththiniwasam
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Profession: Cameraman
Newsorgan: Sirasa (private)
Sector: Television
Date: 18 December 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX
Description: Indika Paththiniwasam, cameraman with the television station Sirasa (private),was killed on 18 December during a suicide bombing at a rally of the ruling party in Colombo. President Kumaratunga was delivering a speech at the conclusion of the rally, which was organised in the context of presidential elections scheduled for 21 December. The bomb killed 21 people and injured some 50 others, including the state leader. Police suspect separatists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of being behind the attack.
Total Media Workers Killed: 19
Cases Under Investigation
Country: ANGOLA
CASENR: 1
Name: Mauricio Cristovao
Nationality: Angolan
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Radio Nacional de Angola
Sector: Radio
Date: 31 August 1999
Age: 24
Source: MISA, IFEX, WAN
Description: Mauricio Cristovao, a journalist working for Radio 5, the sports channel on the government-owned Radio Nacional de Angola, was gunned down in the capital, Luanda. According to Radio Nacional, he was shot three times, once in the head and twice in the chest by unknown gunmen who had ambushed the journalist on his way home.
Country: ANGOLA
CASENR: 2
Name: Joao da Costa
Nationality: Angolan
Profession: Administrative Assistant
Newsorgan: Radio Nacional
Sector: Radio
Date: 31 August 1999
Age:
Source: MISA, IFEX
Description: Joao da Costa's body was found in his car in the centre of Luanda. He was shot.
Country: ARGENTINA
CASENR: 3
Name: Ricardo Gangeme
Nationality: Argentinean
Profession: Editor
Newsorgan: El Informador Chubutense
Sector: Press
Date: 13 May 1999
Age: 56
Source: Periodistas, IFEX, WAN, IPI
Description: Ricardo Gangeme, editor of El Informador Chubutense, was assassinated on Thursday 13 May, in the city of Trelew, as he was arriving at the building where he had been living for the last few days. It is believed that he was attacked while he was parking his car, given that they found the car with its lights on. He was shot with a .38 calibre handgun, which was fired from a distance of one to one and a half metres. He was shot in the left eyebrow and the bullet entered from above.
Country: AZERBAIJAN
CASENR: 4
Name: Telman Dibirov
Nationality: Azerbaijani
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: DM TV
Sector: Television
Date: 17 August 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX, WAN
Description: Telman Dibirov, journalist with the local DM TV Studio in Balaken, a district of Azerbaijan, was murdered by unknown person(s). As reported by newspapers in Baku, the equipment of the studio was stolen. The journalist was murdered with a knife while in the studio. The investigators said that the motives and actors of the killing are not known.
Country: CYPRUS
CASENR: 5
Name: Sertac Gorguner
Nationality: Cypriot
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Kibris
Sector: Press
Date: 12 September 99
Age:
Source: WAN, UCJ
Description: The body of Sertac Gorguner was found in a forest near Nicosia on 12 September 1999. He was a journalist for the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris and had been investigating a killing at a town co-habited by Greek and Turkish Cypriots. He died of a massive head wound and had apparently been murdered.
Country: GUATEMALA
CASENR: 6
Name: Larry Lee
Nationality: American
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Bridge News
Sector: Press
Date: 28 December 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX, Media News
Description: On 28 December 1999, Larry Lee was found dead in his apartment, located in the capital's centre. He had been knifed a number of times in the throat and abdomen area. Initial investigations suggest that the journalist died between 10 and 24 hours before he was found and that he tried to defend himself before being assassinated.
Country INDIA
CASENR: 7
Name: Irfan Hussain
Nationality: Indian
Profession: Cartoonist
Newsorgan: Outlook
Sector: Press
Date: 13 March 1999
Age:
Source: CPJ, Cartoonists Network
Description: Police found the body of Irfan Hussein, a sometimes controversial political cartoonist for the English-language news magazine Outlook, off a highway in New Dehli. His body showed signs of extreme torture.
Country: INDIA
CASENR: 8
Name: Anil Rattan
Nationality: Indian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: Asia Week
Sector: Press
Date: 18 March 1999
Age:
Source: CPJ, IFEX
Description: Police say that Rattan's body was discovered in the bathroom of his Delhi apartment on 20 March 1999 "in a highly decomposed condition," and estimate that he was killed around 18 March. According to police reports, Rattan had been stabbed several times and strangled either with a length of wire found lying near the body or with his undershirt.
Country: IVORY COAST
CASENR: 9
Name: Abdoulaye Bakayoko
Nationality: Ivorian
Profession: Newspaper Owner/Manager
Newsorgan: Le Liberal
Sector: Press
Date: 21 September 1999
Age:
Source: RSF, IFEX, WAN
Description: Bakayoko was assassinated on the evening of 21 September 1999. The killers shot him and fled in a vehicle. The owner of Le Libéral was quickly transferred to a clinic, where he died from his wounds later that evening.
Country: NIGERIA
CASENR: 10
Name: Edward Olalekan Ayo-Ojo
Nationality: Nigerian
Profession:
Newsorgan: Daily Times
Sector: Press
Date: 1 June 1999
Age:
Source: WAN, IPC Nigeria
Description: Edward Olalekan Ayo-Ojo' body was found dumped along the street in Lagos.
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 11
Name: Valentina Neverova
Nationality: Russian
Profession: Editor
Newsorgan: Pravo
Sector: Press
Date: 9 February 1999
Age:
Source: GDF
Description: Valentina Neverova died in a fire at the regional police headquarters in Samara where she arrived to fulfil a professional assignment.
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 12
Name: Valentina Mirolyubova
Nationality: Russian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan:
Sector: Publishing, News Media
Date: 25 February 1999
Age:
Source: GDF
Description: Valentina and Nikolai Mirolyubov, husband and wife and members of the National Journalists' Union, were killed at home in Yaroslavl. A VCR, a computer, and some audio and video cassettes were stolen from their apartment. For the previous months, Valentina and Nikolai had been in the publishing business; before that they worked for the local news media.
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 13
Name: Nikolai Mirolyubov
Nationality: Russian
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan:
Sector: Publishing, News Media
Date: 25 February 1999
Age:
Source: GDF
Description: (see previous case 10)
Country: RUSSIA
CASENR: 14
Name: Christopher Reese
Nationality: American
Profession: Executive Producer
Newsorgan: CTC
Sector: Television
Date: 27 September 1999
Age:
Source: GDF
Description: Christopher Reese was killed in Moscow. His body, bearing numerous knife stab wounds, was found in his rented apartment in Tverskaya Street.
Country: SRI LANKA
CASENR: 15
Name: Rohana Kumara
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Profession: Editor
Newsorgan: Satana
Sector: Press
Date: 7 September 1999
Age:
Source: FMM, IFEX, WAN
Description: Mr. Rohana Kumara, on the night of 7 September 1999 was shot dead by unknown gunmen whilst on his way home from work.
Country: SRI LANKA
CASENR: 16
Name: Atputharajah Nadarajah
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Profession: Chief Editor
Newsorgan: Thinamurasu
Sector: Press
Date: 9 November 1999
Age: 38
Source: RSF, IFEX, Freedom Forum, WAN
Description: An unidentified gunman killed Nadarajah and his driver on the morning of 9 November. The journalist, 38, was also a member of parliament for the Jaffa district for the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), which belongs to the ruling People's Alliance coalition. Nadarajah avoided contact with the public and few people even knew what he looked like. Over the past year his weekly had changed, veering towards Tamil nationalism and supporting the Tamil Tigers. This murder occurred as the government was drawing up censorship regulations on media coverage of the civil war between the army and the LTTE (the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). On 6 November, the information department issued an immediate ban on "the publication, broadcast or transmission of sensitive military information.
Country: UKRAINE
CASENR: 17
Name: Igor Bondar
Nationality: Ukrainian
Profession: Director
Newsorgan: AMT
Sector: Television
Date: 16 May 1999
Age: 32
Source: RSF, IFEX, IPI, WAN
Description: On 16 May 1999, Bondar, 32, director of the AMT television station, was shot and killed in the city's residential neighbourhood, as he was driving in a car with Boris Vikhrov, the Odessa court's presiding judge. The magistrate was also killed in the attack. It appears that this double murder was carried out by men with Kalashnikov-style automatic weapons riding in a car. The public prosecutor's office opened an inquiry, under the authority of the parliamentary commission responsible for the fight against organised crime.
Country: UNITED KINGDOM
CASENR: 18
Name: Jill Dando
Nationality: British
Profession: Journalist
Newsorgan: BBC
Sector: Television
Date: 26 April 1999
Age:
Source: WAN
Description: Jill Dando, presenter of a BBC television programme that investigates unsolved crimes, was shot outside her London home on 26 April. A man was seen running away from the scene of the attack, and to date no evidence has proved that her murder was not related to her investigative work for Crimewatch UK.
Total Cases Under Investigation: 17
Sources
AJI = Alliance of Independent Journalists, Indonesia, IFJ Member
AMARC = World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters
ANEM = Association of Independent Electronic Media
ANP = Asociacion Nacional de Periodistas del Peru, IFJ Member
BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation
CRN = Cartoonist Relief Network
CJFE = Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
CPJ = Committee to Protect Journalists, USA
EJC = European Journalism Centre Media News
FIP = IFJ Latin America Office, Venezuela
FMM = Free Media Movement, Sri Lanka
Freedom Forum
GDF = Glasnost Defence Foundation, Russia
GHM = Greek Helsinki Monitor
HRW = Human Rights Watch
IFEX = International Freedom of Expression Exchange, Canada
IJC = Independent Journalism Centre, Nigeria
IPC = International Press Centre, Nigeria
IPI = International Press Institute, Austria
IPYS = Institute for Press and Society, Peru
JUR = Journalists Union of Russia - IFJ Member
MISA = Media Institute of Southern Africa, Zambia
NFFE = Norwegian Forum for Freedom of Expression
NVJ = Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten, IFJ Member
OSCE = Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Periodistas = Argentine Association for the Protection of Independent Journalism
PJA = Progressive Journalist Association, Turkey, IFJ Member
PPF = Pakistan Press Foundation
Prensa Libre, Colombia
RSF = Reporters Sans Frontières, France
TUJO = Trade Union of Journalists Azerbaijan
SNTP = Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa, Dominican Republic, IFJ Member
UCJ = Union of Cyprus Journalists, IFJ Member
WAN = World Association of Newspapers
