Incident

Pro-government newspaper journalist killed in Syria

Cause of death

Shooting

Details

A pro-government newsletter journalist in Syria was killed in a southern area of Damascus on Tuesday, according to reports.

State television reported that: “An armed terrorist group assassinated the journalist Naji Assaad in the Tadamun district of Damascus as he was on his way to the Tishreen newspaper."

The Syrian Journalists Association (SJA) explained that Assaad was a retired journalist and former head of investigative reporting at the newspaper. He had recently been working on readers’ letters and contributing to the newspaper the group said. His latest article had been published on Monday, according to an official at the newspaper. 

"This is a clear and serious indication that journalists and media workers are being targeted, by Syrian regime forces as well as three killed at the hands of the armed opposition," the SJA said. Syrian news agency SANA reported that an official said Assaad was “shot in the head by a sniper as he was leaving his home in Tadamun district around 8.30AM to go to work.” Chief editor of Tishreen, Raghda Mardini said: “this is a crime against the Syrian media, which has been a guiding force against the media fabrications of those who are spilling the blood of the Syrian people.”

The killing is the second to take place in the neighbourhood in the past two weeks following the death of Basel Tawfiq Yousef who was killed by rebel forces after being accused of supporting the regime and committing human rights violations.

Doha Centre for Media Freedom has repeated calls for regime and rebel forces to put an end to the targeting of journalists and media workers in Syria. The centre has written an open letter to the President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, Moaz Al-Khatib, urging him to respect press freedom and highlighting the importance of protecting journalists. The centre has also been monitoring the situation for journalists throughout the revolution and has compiled a death toll for journalists, citizen journalists and media activists since fighting broke out in Syria.

According to sources, the number of media workers to have lost their lives has now reached 82. According to the anti-regime Syrian Journalists Association, November was the bloodiest month for the media in Syria, with 13 amateur and professional journalists killed across the country. 

>> Read the original article here Source: DCMF / AFP