19 Nov 11 | News and features
MURDERED 19 NOVEMBER 1997
Eenadu-TV (E-TV) staff — Hyderabad, India
Raja Sekhar, assistant; Jagadish Babu, producer; Gangadhara Raju, cameraman; Srinivas Rao, assistant cameraman; S. Krishna, assistant cameraman
Join us in demanding justice for Eenadu-TV staff. On site to cover a film production, the E-TV crew were leaving the studio on 19 November 1997 when they were killed by a car bomb detonated near the entrance. The attack is believed to have targeted the film’s producer, Paritala Ravi, a former guerrilla leader who had become a state legislator. According to the International Federation of Journalists, the E-TV staff were “collateral damage” in a cycle of murders and vendettas involving powerful political factions and families in Ravi’s home district of Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
Soon after the blast, eight among the alleged suspects surrendered to local police. But the trial floundered and all were released on bail. In January 2005, Ravi himself was killed in an ambush – allegedly by the bombing conspirators. Since then, one suspect has been killed. Today no remaining suspects have been brought to justice.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Eenadu-TV Staff
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.
18 Nov 11 | News and features
MURDERED 18 NOVEMBER 1998
Tara Singh Hayer, Publisher, “Indo-Canadian Times” — Canada
Join us in demanding justice for Tara Singh Hayer. Already paralysed from an assassination attempt 10 years earlier, Hayer was shot to death outside his home on 18 November 1998. A week before his death, he said ominously, “If they get me, they get me. There’s nothing I can do and I’m not going to stop my work.” Hayer’s murder appears to be connected to his investigation into the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight, which resulted in the deaths of all 329 passengers and crew. Hayer had made statements to police that would incriminate members of a militant Sikh separatist group.
Police were accused of failing to provide Hayer with adequate protection, mismanaging his case, and dismissing the possibility of a link between Hayer’s death and the bombing. Hayer’s case is the first and only case of a journalist murdered specifically for his work in Canada. It remains unsolved.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Tara Singh Hayer
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.
17 Nov 11 | News and features
MURDERED 17 NOVEMBER 2007
Meher-un-Nisa Khan, Press Freedom Advocate — Mir Ali, Pakistan
Join us in demanding justice for Meher-un-Nisa. The wife of slain journalist Hayatullah Khan, Meher-un-Nisa, herself had become an advocate for journalists’ safety before she was murdered when a bomb detonated outside her bedroom window in Mir Ali, a militant stronghold in North Waziristan, on 17 November 2007. Her five children, who were sleeping in an adjoining bedroom, were not injured in the blast.
Hayatullah disappeared in December 2005 just days after he photographed shrapnel from a U.S. missile found at the scene where al-Qaeda leader Hamza Rabia was killed. His widely published photo contradicted a claim by the Pakistan government that Rabia died in an accidental explosion. Hayatullah’s body was found seven months later riddled with bullets, while another family member was killed several months later. Along with Mehr-un-Nisa’s murder, the killings are believed to be an attempt to stop the family from trying to expose Hayatullah’s killers. All three cases remain unsolved.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Meher-un-Nisa
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.
16 Nov 11 | News and features
MURDERED 16 NOVEMBER 2009
Olga Kotovskaya, Co-Founder, Kaskad — Kaliningrad, Russia
Join us in demanding justice for Olga Kotovskaya. Authorities called it a suicide but her friends and colleagues of believe she was murdered in connection to her work: on 16 November 2009, Kotovskaya fell to her death from a 14th-floor window of a building that she reportedly had no reason to be in. For years, Kotovskaya had been embroiled in a lawsuit with Kaliningrad’s former vice governor, Vladimir Pirogov, over control of Kaskad. A week before her death, a local court upheld her claims that Pirogov had taken charge of the station using documentation containing forged signatures.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Olga Kotovskaya
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.
