Izjava u povodu tragiène pogibije libanskog novinara u Bejrutu

30.06.2005.

 2 June2005

On 2 June the IFJ issued astatement condeming the assassination of leading columnist Samir Kassir workingfor theAn-Naharnewspaper, who was killed when his car blew up inBeirut, Lebanon.

On that day, Kassir was killed when a device left underthe driver's seat of his car exploded while he was in the Christianneighbourhood of Achrafieh. The attack came four days after the start of thecountry’s parliamentary election which will continue until 19June.

“Samir was a true ally of free expression and those behind hismurder must be brought to justice,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “Itappears that he has been singled out for a politically-motivatedassassination”.

In his last column, which appeared onAn-Nahar'sfront page on Friday, Kassir criticized Syria's lack of desire to enact rapidchange, saying: "Reform for the [ruling] Ba'athists does not mean acceptingopposing views." "The huge regional changes from Iraq to Lebanon only drive them[the Ba'athists] to warn of US dangers without thinking for a minute of the bestways to prevent this danger."

Kassir was the most prominent Lebanesefigure to be killed since the 14 February assassination of former Prime MinisterRafik Hariri, which plunged the country into its worst political crisis sincethe 1975-1990 war.

Anti-Syrian groups were quick to blame Damascus andits Lebanese allies for his murder, alleging the involvement of theSyrian-backed President, Emile Lahoud.
“Journalists around the world willwant to see action to find the killers and bring them to justice,” said White.“This is an intolerable assault on the movement for democratic reform not justin Lebanon but throughout the Arab World”.

Kassir had been writingcolumns for the past 10 years withAn-Nahar, a daily Arabic newspaper andwas married to Giselle Khoury, another prominent Lebanese journalist working forAl-Arabiyaand currently residing in the United States. He was well-knownfor his anti-Syrian positions and his criticism of the "Lebanese police state"and had been harassed and threatened for years.

Povratak