Media Release: Australia
22 March 2013
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Australian affiliate, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, in remembering Australian Broadcasting Corporation cameraman Paul Moran who was murdered by a suicide car bomb 10 years ago today while on assignment in Northern Iraq at the start of the 2003 invasion.
Paul, 39, had been filming a story with ABC correspondent Eric Campbell on Kurdish "peshmerga" guerrilla fighters in the village of Sayed Sadiq. He was filming some final images of a group of fighters when a car drove up next to the group, stopped and exploded, killing Paul instantly.
Iraqi terrorist group Ansar al Islam claimed responsibility for the attack. The group’s founder, Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, also known as Mullah Krekar ordered the attack that killed Paul.
Krekar had lived in Norway as a refugee since 1991. In 2007 he openly taunted the Australian Government to come and get him.
Krekar is currently in prison in Norway on four counts of intimidation under aggravating circumstances and is due to be released in 2015. The Media Alliance continues to campaign for the extradition of Krekar from Norway to face possible war crimes charges under section 115 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Harming Australians).
Christopher Warren, federal secretary of the Media Alliance, says: “The murder of Paul Moran is an important reminder of the dangers journalists confront. But increasingly, the murder of journalists is being met with impunity as authorities fail to pursue these dreadful attacks with proper investigation and due judicial process to bring the perpetrators to justice. The most important signal any government can send about press freedom is that it will pursue with vigour and proper resources not just the people who pull the trigger but also those who ordered the killing. To fail to do so means that the killers are literally getting away with murder.
“The Media Alliance will continue to call on the Australian Federal Police to take every step to bring Mullah Krekar to justice in Australia for his part in ordering the attack that led to the death of our colleague,” Warren said.
The IFJ joins its affiliate, the Media Alliance, in calling for action to ensure Paul Moran’s killers are brought to justice.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
Find the IFJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IFJAsiaPacific