12 October 2006
GERMAN JOURNALISTS KILLED
The International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have urged Afghan authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the murders of two German freelance journalists who were shot dead on 7 October 2006.
Karen Fischer, 30, and Christian Struwe, 38, were gunned down in their roadside tent in Baghlan province. The assailants did not steal their equipment or passports. Afghan authorities said they had identified six people they want to question in connection with the murders.
The journalists were on their way to Bamiyan in northern Afghanistan to do a report for Deutsche Welle on ancient historic sites, including the remains of large Buddha statues that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
IFJ says Afghanistan remains an extremely dangerous country for journalists to work. Four journalists have been killed since democratic elections were introduced in 2004. They include Abdul Qodus, a cameraman for the Kabul-based private television station Aryana TV who was killed in a suicide bombing in the city of Kandahar on 22 July.
Visit these links:
- IPI: http://www.freemedia.at/
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19107
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=4281&Language=EN
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