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MURDERED 7 NOVEMBER 2005
Ahmed Hussein al-Maliki, Local Affairs Editor, “Talafar al-Yawm” — Mosul, Iraq
Join us in demanding justice for Ahmed Hussein al-Maliki, who was gunned down on 7 November 2005 by unidentified gunmen while exiting an Internet café in Mosul’s central district. He had emailed that day’s local news to the editor-in-chief 15 minutes before he was shot.
Al-Maliki often relied on police sources for his job and enjoyed good relations with them. Insurgents often target journalists seen dealing with the Iraqi police. They have also been known to go after pro-democracy and pro-Iraqi government media, of which “Talafar Al-Yawm” is one.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Ahmed Hussein al-Maliki
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
MURDERED NOVEMBER 2004
Wadallah Sarhan, Editor-in-Chief, Akhbar Al-Mosul — Mosul,Iraq
Join us in demanding justice for Wadallah Sarhan, gunned down in November 2004 by assailants near his home, which doubled as the newspaper’s office, according to local journalists and a local government official. The sources could not provide a precise date for his death. Sarhan may have been targeted because of suspicions that his newspaper had received US funding. According to one reporter, Sarhan’s name was included on an insurgent “hit list” of local journalists that was posted in some local mosques in 2004.
In 2011, Iraq – with an impunity rating three times worse than that of any other nation – is ranked first in the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Impunity Index for the fourth straight year. Plus, says CPJ, not a single one of the 92 journalists’ murders recorded in Iraq this past decade has been solved.
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.