Iraq: CFWIJ demands an in-depth investigation into the assassination of the TV anchor and journalist Lana Mohammad and her family
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March 5, 2021 – Northeastern Iraq government spokesman admitted for the first time that Kurdish TV anchor and journalist Lana Mohammad’s and her family’s double murder-suicide in Sulaimaniyah was a planned assassination. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) is devastated to hear about new development in the tragic incident. We demand Iraqi authorities to settle fairly and independently to investigate these brutal killings and find the perpetrators for the murders immediately.
After their bodies were found in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, news outlets gathered eye-witness accounts who stated that unknown gunmen had opened fire on the car killing TV anchor Lana Mohammad, her husband Amanj Babani -also was a prominent journalist of the Kurdish NRT channel-, with their three-year-old son, and fled the scene.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the provincial government spokesman admitted, for the first time since the bodies of Lana and her family were found in the car in October 2019, the journalists were victims of assassination, knowing that the authorities had concluded at the time to the assumption of suicide.
Only a few hours after this assassination, the police concluded the incident was about suicide following an internal dispute between the spouses, which completely contradicts the testimonies obtained by the NRT reporter at the scene, noting that many journalists, politicians and commentators question this official account. Where they posted on various social media a video showing the traces of bullets on the car. For his part, the Deputy Prime Minister, Qubad Talabani, promised to conduct an investigation which he said he would personally supervise.
Some news reports point towards the fact that Lana’s husband was very vocal as a journalist. He hosted a show for NRT called ‘Without Borders’, which dealt with sensitive subjects such as child marriage, violence against women, or other controversial societal issues in Kurdistan; hence, increasing the notoriety of the tragic event.
The assassination of Amanj Babani and Lana Muhammad, if confirmed, will not be the only isolated case. Many journalists were murdered in the region and none of these killings was taken the necessary measures to shed light on these brutal killings. Until now, no court ruling has been issued indicating any of the perpetrators of these crimes.
No matter what the reason may be, precious lives have been lost and our colleague Lana has been murdered with impunity. We demand nothing but justice.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism urges Iraqi authorities to find the perpetrators and put the journalist’s and her family’s murderers behind bars. The state of press freedom in the region is bleak and journalists continue to work under threatening conditions, where they are often killed for their journalism. In most cases, their murderers remain unpunished. No matter what the reason may be, precious lives were lost and our colleague Lana was murdered with impunity. We demand nothing but justice.
