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
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