Iraq Sentences Confessed Killer of 2 Journalists to Death

On Monday, an Iraqi man was condemned to death by hanging for killing two journalists during anti-government riots in southern Iraq last year, according to AL-MONITOR.

In January 2020, a gang of armed men opened fire on Ahmad Abdessamad, a 37-year-old reporter for the local station Dijlah TV, and his 26-year-old cameraman, Safaa Ghali, as they drove through Basra. Abdessamad died on the spot, and Ghali died at a hospital from his gunshot wounds.

The defendant, named as "HK" by the Basra Criminal Court, admitted to shooting at the journalists "with the intent of disrupting security and stability and intimidating civilians for terrorist reasons." He has 30 days to file an appeal against his execution sentence.

In October 2019, Abdessamad and Ghali were covering anti-government rallies in Baghdad and across Iraq's Shiite-majority south. The demonstrations pushed then-Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to resign, calling for an end to growing Iranian influence, government corruption, and a lack of basic amenities.

Human rights organisations have accused security forces of employing brutal measures to quell the protests, including shooting nonviolent protesters with live ammunition.

Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Iraq's current prime minister, has promised to punish those guilty for the hundreds of people killed during the protests, including journalists.

Iraq was designated the world's second deadliest country for journalists in 2020 by Reporters Without Borders. According to the research, 84 percent of journalists slain in that year were targeted. Seven people were killed while covering protests.

"Hisham al-Hashimi, a famous Iraqi security expert, was slain outside his home in Baghdad in July 2020 by gunmen on motorcycles. Authorities had arrested numerous persons in connection with Hashimi's murder, including a 36-year-old police lieutenant who confessed to the killing," Kadhimi announced a year later.