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The Broadcasting Board of Governors calls on the Syrian government to release any information they have on the capture and whereabouts of Alhurra correspondent Bashar Fahmi and cameraman Cüneyt Ünal.
—BBG Seeks Information On Journalists Missing In Syria
Boko Haram Threatens VOA Reporters
Boko Haram spokesman Abu Qaqa said in the statement the group was going to target VOA, charging VOA “has undertaken the task of harming our religion.” He said the Boko Haram “will not leave any correspondent or staff of VOA alone.”
Two correspondents with Radio Ozodi, RFE/RL’s Tajik service, were detained by police officers in Dushanbe on August 31 while reporting on a student protest in front of the Presidential Palace.
RFE/RL Reporters Detained During Protests in Dushanbe
Translation of Syrian State TV Report On Cuneyt Unal, the Journalist Presented as Combatant.
The subtitles, from the Arabic, of the broadcast on the government-run “news.”
0:02 Cuneyt Unal… Illegal entry to Syria [An image of Mr. Unal with an RPG-7 was shown here.]
0:12 My name is Cuneyt Unal
0:15 I came from Istanbul by plane then
0:18 I met with an armed group and left
0:23 to Kilis then we moved to Azaz…
0:26 with the group.. and all of them had weapons
0:29 The armed group had Libyans, Qataris, Chechens and Saudis
0:34 Then we moved to Marea…then with the armed group to Aleppo
0:44 There we met another armed group called “Al Tawhid Brigade”
0:58 We moved with them to “Al Sakhour” (a neighbourhood inside Aleppo) where armed Chechens were
1:04 …and also Saudis, Qataris, and Libyans. Then I moved with them to “Al Midan” inside Aleppo.
1:16 And there a fight took place with the “Syrian Arab Army” and I was arrested and brought here.
At no time does the broadcast share with its viewers that Mr. Unal, a Turkish citizen, is a journalist. Nor does it mention the fate of Bashar Fahmi, his missing colleague from al-Hurra. The broadcast began with a photograph purporting to show Mr. Unal wielding an RPG. The image appears to have been doctored.
Translation by Wasim Sabbagh. [Thank you, Wasim.]
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH
Screen grab from the same report, showing bruising around Mr. Unal’s eyes.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors today called for the immediate release of Alhurra TV correspondent Bashar Fahmi and cameraman Cüneyt Ünal, who went missing on August 20 while working in Syria.
A Syrian government television channel has broadcast a brief statement in which Ünal describes himself as part of an international militant force. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has been quoted as saying that Ünal was forced to make a statement that was dictated to him.
“This video is deeply disturbing and underscores the perilous situation for these journalists,” said Michael Meehan, a member of the BBG board and Chairman of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN). “They entered Syria only to report the news. We call for their immediate release, and we urge the Syrian government to take action to ensure their safety.”For more news coverage on this, see also: AP, Reuters, AFP, Today’s Zaman, B&C, IPI, CPJ
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