Prominent Iraqi journalist Ahmed AbdulSamad was killed as he was covering demonstrations in Iraq’s southern city of Basra, January 10, 2020. Photo: Ekurd.net/SM
BAGHDAD,— Iraqi journalists Ahmed Abdul Samad and Safaa Ghali were gunned down on Friday evening in Basra in southern Iraq while covering anti-government protests there for the popular Dijlah TV.
The Iraqi Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the killings in a statement, noting that “this criminal incident comes in the context where journalists, media workers, and people expressing their freedom of speech are being targeted for performing their national and professional duties.”
“We call on the Basra Operations Commander and the Basra Police Commander to uncover the perpetrators, prosecute them, and bring them to justice,” the statement added.
So far, no group has taken credit for his murder.
The Syndicate also called on the security forces to provide protection for journalists while they perform their professional duty of bringing the news to Iraqis.
Ahmed Abdul Samad has worked for a number of outlets over the years including NRT Arabic, filling many important stories from Basra and the southern provinces during the protests in the summer of 2018.
In the hours before his death, he posted a video of condemning the arrest of journalists for reporting on the ongoing protests in Baghdad and the southern provinces.
Safaa Ghali was a cameraman working for Dijlah TV.
Protesters flooded into Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Friday afternoon in a revival of anti-government demonstrations that were sidelined by the US killing of an Iranian general in the Iraqi capital a week earlier.
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