Yemen: AFP Photojournalist murdered by unidentified men in Aden city

Unidentified gunmen assassinated photographer Nabil Hasan al-Qaiti on June 2, outside his home in a suburb of Aden city located in the south of Yemen. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) mourn the death of Nabil and urge the authorities to investigate and make justice with the authors of this heinous crime.

NABIL HASAN / FACEBOOK / AFP

The 34- year-old photojournalist, who worked with AFP and contributed to other news organisations, was assaulted in his car and shot dead gunned down by unknown individuals after leaving his home. According to official sources, the killers escaped from the crime scene. 

Nabil’s journalistic work began in 2007 when he started working for Al-Ayyam newspaper and Utopian channel. After that, he started working with APF, which honoured him in 2015 after he made it to the final list following for the World Prize Rory Peck.

"Through his work with AFP over the past five years, Nabil had helped to show a global audience the full horror of the conflict in Yemen. The quality of his work had been widely recognised," AFP's Global News Director, Phil Chetwynd.

The YJS said in a statement: “We strongly condemn this crime and call on the authorities in Aden to start investigating immediately and ensure perpetrators are found and face trial.

The murder of Nabil is the latest attack against journalists in Yemen, where media workers are facing death penalties, are being kidnapped, tortured and arbitrarily arrested. The IFJ has repeatedly called on all sides of the war to stop targeting journalists and not to take them hostages in the conflict.

On 16 April, the IFJ and the YJS sent a letter to the UN General Secretary urging him to support moves to protect the lives of journalists sentenced to death and demand the release of all journalists jailed in Yemen.

The IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: “We are deeply concerned about the situation in Yemen, where journalists are being systematically targeted and are suffering the hardest consequences of the conflict. We stand in solidarity with Nabil’s family, colleagues and friends and call for justice to be done.

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

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