List of journalists killed in Serbia

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This is a list of journalists killed in Europe (as a continent), divided by country.

While journalists in the European Union (EU) generally work in good conditions, there are cases of murdered journalists, and many of them remain unpunished.[1] This list includes non-EU countries within Europe such as Turkey, Ukraine and Russia.

Number of journalists killed or murdered in Europe (not all countries included in the list are included in the map) while on duty or assignment, 1992–2017[1]

Abkhazia

  • Alexandra Tuttle, correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, was killed on 22 September 1993 when the military plane on which she was flying was hit by an Abkhazian ground-to-air missile.[2]
  • Andrey Soloviev, Soviet war photographer for ITAR-TASS was killed by a sniper in Sukhumi on 27 September 1993.[3]
  • Georgy Chanya, correspondent for Resonants was killed on 26 May 1998 while reporting fighting between Abkhazian rebels and Georgian guerrilla fighters near Gali.[4]

Armenia

Austria

Azerbaijan

See also: Media freedom in Azerbaijan
  • Photographer reporter Chingiz Mustafayev for Democratic Russia Press Agency was killed on 15 June 1992, while filming fighting between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.[6][7]
  • Camera operator Adil Bunyatov for Reuters TV and the Turan News Agency was killed on 17 March 1995, while covering a military offense on a rebel police unit.[8]
  • Elmar Huseynov, founder and editor of the opposition weekly news magazine Monitor, was gunned down in his apartment building in Baku on 2 March 2005.[9][10]
  • Newspaper editor Novruzali Mamedov, of the now-defunct Talysh minority newspaper Talyshi Sado, died in a prison hospital on 17 August 2009. His death was condemned by Baku-based Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety as government neglect.[11]
  • Freelance reporter Rafiq Tağı, who contributed to the Azerbaijani branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was stabbed on 19 November 2011 and died in a Baku hospital on 23 November.[12]
  • Rasim Aliyev, chairman of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety, was beaten up on 8 August 2015 by football fans for his opinion against one of the players. He died from his wounds the following day.[13]

Belarus

  • Dzmitry Zavadski disappeared and was presumably murdered on 7 July 2000. On 14 March 2002 four people were sentenced for his abduction, but not for the murder, as the body had never been found,[14] and while the performers may have been condemned, the masterminds are still at large.[15] He was declared dead on 28 November 2003.[16]
  • Veronika Cherkasova, murdered by an unknown assailant in 2004.
  • Aleh Byabenin was found hanged in the stairwell of his summer home in Minsk on 3 September 2010, but no suicide note was found.[17]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Twenty-five journalists were killed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars between 1991 and 1995:[1]

  • On 9 April 1992 Kjašif Smajlović [bs], Bosnian journalist working for the Oslobođenje, was killed in his office in Zvornik by Serbian soldiers[18]
  • On 29 May 1993 a humanitarian convoy was assailed near Gornji Vakuf. Italian journalist Guido Puletti was killed among fellow pacifists Sergio Lana and Fabio Moreni, while two others escaped. Hanefija Prijić (Paraga), the leader of the group of Bosnian soldiers responsible for the killings, was condemned to 13 years in prison.[19]
  • Dominique Lonneux, Belgian freelance cameraman working for a Mexican TV, was wounded and died on 2 June 1993 in western Herzegovina when the UNPROFOR convoy he was travelling with was attacked.[20]
  • Tasar Omer, Turkish freelance journalist, was killed on 27 June 1993 by a sniper in Sarajevo at a funeral.[21]
  • On 28 January 1994, Marco Luchetta [it], Alessandro Saša Ota [it] and Dario D'Angelo [it], three Italian journalist working for RAI, were killed in Mostar by a mortar.[22]
  • On 1 May 1994, journalists Bryan Brinton and Francis William Tomasic were killed, and novelist William T. Vollmann was injured, by a landmine near Mostar.[23]
  • Sasa Kolevski, cameraman for the Bosnian Serb Television in Banja Luka, disappeared on 23 September 1995 in Mount Ozren, together with the station driver Goran Pejcinovic, whose body was returned to Bosnian Serb authorities on 25 October.[24]

Bulgaria

  • Radio presenter and author Bobi Tsankov was shot dead in central Sofia on 5 January 2010.[25]
  • Victoria Marinova, a television journalist who reported on an investigation into alleged corruption involving European Union funds, was murdered in Bulgaria's northern town of Ruse. Her body was found on 6 October 2018.[26] A Bulgarian man, Severin Krasimirov was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in jail. Prosecutors said the crime was "linked to sexual motives and had no links to the profession of the victim."[27]

Croatia

According to the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) at least 14 Croatian reporters, cameramen and technicians were killed in Croatia during the Yugoslav Wars; according to Balkan Insight 13 foreign reporters were also killed:[28]

Cyprus

Denmark

France

Georgia

Germany

  • Jusuf Gërvalla, assassinated in 1982 in West Germany, allegedly by the Yugoslav government.

Greece

Ireland

For those killed in Northern Ireland, see § United Kingdom.

Italy

Eleven journalists were killed in Italy by mafias or terrorist organizations:[56]

Kazakhstan

  • Askhat Sharipjanov, an editor of the website Navigator, was hit by a car in Almaty on 20 July 2004. The driver was found guilty of traffic violations and careless driving that resulted in a person's death, but Sharipjanov's colleagues believed it was contract murder.[57]
  • Oralgaisha Omarshanova, disappeared in 2007, body discovered in 2021.
  • Gennady Pavlyuk (pen name: Ibragim Rustambek), editor-in-chief of Bely Parokhod, died in a hospital Almaty on 22 December 2009, six days after falling from a building with his hands and legs bound with tape. Two people were condemned for his murder.[58]

Kosovo

In Kosovo 15 journalists were killed or went missing between August 1998 and May 2005, during and in the aftermath of the Kosovo War.[59] Among them at least seven Serbian journalists disappeared and are believed to have been killed.[60]

  • Radio journalist Djuro Slavuj and driver Ranko Perenic, two Serbs working for Radio Pristina, were on assignment on 21 August 1998, when they were abducted by a group of armed people with insignia of the Kosovo Liberation Army and disappeared.[61]
  • Afrim Maliqi [Wikidata], a Kosovo journalist working for the newspaper Bujku, was killed on 2 December 1998 in Pristina.[62][63]
  • On 11 January 1999, Enver Maloku, a Kosovo Albanian journalist, writer and head of the Kosovo Information Centre, was shot in Pristina.[64]
  • Two German journalists, Gabriel Grüner and Volker Krämer, were shot on 13 June 1999, near the village of Dulje, by Yugoslavian soldiers. Krämer died immediately, Grüner died later in a hospital in Tetovo, Macedonia.
  • On 10 September 2000 Shefki Popova, an ethnic Albanian journalist working for the Rilindja newspaper was killed at the entrance of his house in Vučitrn.[59] He was also active in local politics and in international cooperation. Motive remains unconfirmed.[65]
  • Journalist Bekim Kastrati was killed on 19 October 2001 while he was in his car with two other men: one of them was also killed and one was wounded. The motive is unconfirmed.[66]
  • Xhemail Mustafa, Kosovo journalist and advisor to the president Ibrahim Rugova, was killed by two unknown gunmen on 23 November 2000 in front of his apartment in Pristina.[67]
  • Bardhyl Ajeti was shot on 3 June 2005 in Kosovo and died from his wounds in an hospital in Milan on 28 June. No one has been condemned.[53]

Latvia

  • Gundars Matiss died on 28 November 2001, from a brain hemorrhage after being attacked on 15 November.[68]
  • Grigorijs Ņemcovs, 2010

Lithuania

  • Vitas Lingis was shot dead on 12 October 1993.[69]

Malta

Daphne Caruana Galizia

Montenegro

  • Duško Jovanović was killed on 27 May 2004. To this date, despite many attempts to do so, the case remains unresolved.[71]

The Netherlands

Poland

Romania

  • La Cinq reporter Jean-Louis Calderon died crushed by an army tank on the streets of Bucharest on 22 December 1989, while covering the uprising against the communist government.[75]
  • VTM reporter Danny Huwé was killed by snipers on 23 December 1989, while entering Bucharest by car.[76]

Russia

Main article: List of journalists killed in Russia

Dozens of journalists have been killed in Russia since the 1990s.

Serbia

The headquarters of RTS after the NATO bombing

Slovakia

Ján Kuciak and his fiancée
  • On 25 February 2018, the Slovak investigative reporter Ján Kuciak, 27, and his partner were found shot dead in their home in Veľká Mača, western Slovakia. "As a reporter for online news website Aktuality.sk,[85] Kuciak wrote about serious economic crimes and illegal activities involving several high profile Slovak businessmen and their relations with top politicians", EUobserver reports,[86] adding that "Kuciak was also working on a story linking prime minister Robert Fico's assistant with an Italian businessman in Slovakia. Among numerous tax frauds and public fund scandals, he covered the Panama Papers".[86] The murder led to multiple protests organized under the "For decent Slovakia" movement.

Slovenia

South Ossetia

  • Alexander Klimchuk (head of Caucasus Images) and Grigol Chikhladze (a freelance and member of Caucasus Images) were killed on 10 August 2008 when they tried to enter Tskhinvali.[88][89]

Spain

  • Journalist Cristóbal Botella y Serra [es] was killed in 1921.
  • Journalist Luis de Sirval [es] was killed in 1934.
  • Journalist and politician Manuel Delgado Barreto was killed in 1936.
  • Photographer Francisco Goñi was killed in 1936.
  • Journalist Jaime Maestro Pérez [es] was killed in 1936.
  • Journalist Estanislao Rico Ariza [es] was killed in 1936.
  • Priest and journalist Emilio Ruiz Muñoz [es] was killed in 1936.
  • Sport journalist Paulino Martín García was killed in Madrid on 11 August 1977. No vindication and no prosecution.[90]
  • Journalist José María Portell [es] was killed by ETA in 1978.
  • Josu Muguruza, 1989
  • Trade unionist and newspaper columnist José Luis López de Lacalle was killed on 7 May 2000 by ETA.[91]

Sweden

Turkey

Main article: List of journalists killed in Turkey

United Kingdom

Ukraine

Main article: Freedom of the press in Ukraine § Timeline of reporters killed in Ukraine
Ukrainian journalist Oles Buzina was shot dead by two masked gunmen near his house in Kyiv on 16 April 2015.

See also

References

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Text taken from Europe is not so safe for journalists​, Gian-Paolo Accardo/VoxEurop, EDJNet.

  1. ^ a b c Accardo, Gian-Paolo (24 October 2017). "Europe is not so safe for journalists". VoxEurop/EDJNet. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Alexandra Tuttle". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Andrei Soloviev". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Georgy Chanya". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Tirgran Nagdalian". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Chingiz Fuad-ogly Mustafayev". cpj.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  7. ^ Mustafayev, Vahid (Autumn 1999). "Documenting the Horrors of Karabakh: Chingiz Mustafayev in Action". www.azer.com. pp. 57–59. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Adil Bunyatov". cpj.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Investigators name chief suspect in murder of opposition editor - IFEX". IFEX. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  10. ^ "Elmar Huseynov". cpj.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Novruzali Mamedov". cpj.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Rafiq Tagi". cpj.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Rasim Aliyev". cpj.org. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  14. ^ "18 Years Since Abduction of Dzmitry Zavadski". bay.by. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Still no answer: Belarus journalist Dzmitry Zavadski went missing 17 years ago". belsat.eu. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  16. ^ Суд признал погибшим оператора ОРТ Дмитрия Завадского [Court Rules Dmitry Zavadsky Legally Dead]. Vesti (in Russian). 3 December 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Suspicions over 'suicide' of Belarus activist Aleh Byabenin". Index on Censorship. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  18. ^ Admir Muslimovic/BIRN. "Courageous Bosnian Reporter Refused to Flee". Last Despatches. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  19. ^ Andrea Oskari Rossini (27 May 2013). "A Memorial on the Diamond Road". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Dominique Lonneux". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  21. ^ "Tasar Omer". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  22. ^ Corritore, Nicole (28 January 2013). "Mostar 28 gennaio 1994: uccisi tre inviati Rai". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso - Transeuropa (in Italian). Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  23. ^ "Landmine Kills Two Photographers, Wounds Writer With PM-Yugoslavia". Associated Press News. 2 March 1994. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Sasa Kolevski". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Bulgarian journalist shot dead in Sofia". DW. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  26. ^ "Bulgarian broadcast journalist raped and murdered". DW.COM. Deutsche Welle. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  27. ^ "Bulgarian journalist's killer gets 30 years in prison". DW.COM. Deutsche Welle. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  28. ^ a b c Sven Milekic/BIRN. "Russians' Murders in Croatia Shrouded in Mystery". Last Despatches. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  29. ^ Robinson, Natasha (27 September 2017). "'Captain Dragan' Vasiljkovic: How we brought down a war criminal". ABC. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  30. ^ Lozančić, Branko (10 August 2018). "27th anniversary of Gordan Lederer's death marked". The Voice of Croatia. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  31. ^ "Document - Croatia: Amnesty International calls for justice for Sinisa Glavasevic and other victims of unlawful execution in Vukovar". Amnesty International. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  32. ^ Anja Vladisavljevic/BIRN. "Croatian Photographer Killed While Shooting Final Picture". Last Despatches. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  33. ^ "John Schofield". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  34. ^ Simpson, John (15 August 1995). "A joke, a shot, a pool of blood". The Independent. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  35. ^ "O kıbrıs barış harekatı'nın tek gazeteci şehidi". www.haberturk.com (in Turkish). 31 August 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  36. ^ "Kutlu Adali". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  37. ^ Jones, Derek (2001). Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. Routledge.
  38. ^ "Kim Wall: What we know about Danish submarine death". BBC News. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  39. ^ Barbería, José Luis (31 March 1985). "Asesinado el corresponsal de 'Egin' en el País Vasco francés". El País. San Sebastián. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  40. ^ Ruta, Carlo (13 October 2011). "Nicolas Giudici, vittima dimenticata". PeaceLink (in Italian). Narcomafie. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  41. ^ Martinez, Michael; Debucquoy-Dodley, Dominique; Sanchez, Ray (11 January 2015). "Vignettes: More about the 17 killed in French terror attacks". CNN. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  42. ^ Brown, Harley (14 November 2015). "French Music Journalist Guillaume B. Decherf Killed in the Paris Attacks". SPIN. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  43. ^ "Parliament names radio studio after journalists murdered in December attack". European Parliament. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  44. ^ "David Bolkvadze". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  45. ^ "Antonio Russo". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  46. ^ "Georgy Sanaya". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  47. ^ "Stan Storimans". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  48. ^ via Deutsche Welle accessed on 12.01.2022
  49. ^ "Georgian camera operator Aleksandre Lashkarava dies after beating by anti-LGBT demonstrators". Committee to Protect Journalists. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  50. ^ "Director-General deplores death of cameraman Alexander Lashkarava in Georgia". UNESCO. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  51. ^ "Observatory of Killed Journalists". UNESCO. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  52. ^ "Journalist Sokratis Giolias gunned down in Greece". BBC News. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  53. ^ a b Dimitrova, Svetla (24 November 2014). "Nine out of 10 cases of journalists' murders go unpunished". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso - Transeuropa. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  54. ^ "Giorgos Karaivaz: Veteran crime journalist shot dead in Greece". BBC News. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  55. ^ Fincham, Kelly (26 June 2018). "Remembering the day fearless Irish journalist Veronica Guerin was murdered". IrishCentral.com. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  56. ^ Giornata della memoria dei giornalisti uccisi da mafie e terrorismo. Roma: Unione Nazionale Cronisti Italiani. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  57. ^ "Askhat Sharipjanov". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  58. ^ "Gennady Pavlyuk (Ibragim Rustambek)". CPJ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  59. ^ a b Serbeze Haxhiaj/BIRN. "Kosovo Reporter's Killers Enjoy State of Impunity". Last Despatches. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  60. ^ "UNS demands investigation into missing and murdered journalists in Kosovo". European Federation of Journalists. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  61. ^ Milica Stojanovic/BIRN. "Abducted Serb Radio Team Disappear in Kosovo". Last Despatches. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  62. ^ Die Morina/BIRN. "Kosovo Journalist Followed for Months, Then Shot Dead". Last Despatches. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  63. ^ "No investigation into murder of journalist Afrim Maliqi". 15 March 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  64. ^ Serbeze Haxhiaj/BIRN. "A Death Foretold: Kosovo Editor Killed Amid Political Unrest". Last Despatches. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  65. ^ "Shefki Popova". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  66. ^ "Bekim Kastrati". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  67. ^ Petković, Jelena L. (30 April 2018). "EULEX knows who is responsible for murder of journalist?". Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  68. ^ "Gundars Matiss". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  69. ^ "Vitas Lingis". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  70. ^ Garside, Juliette (16 October 2017). "Malta car bomb kills Panama Papers journalist". The Guardian.
  71. ^ "Ubijen urednik "Dana" Duško Jovanović".
  72. ^ "Peter R. de Vries dies during shooting". The Guardian. 15 July 2021.
  73. ^ "Jarosław Ziętara". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  74. ^ "Łukasz Masiak". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  75. ^ "Burial For TV Journalist Killed in Romania With PM-Romania, Bjt". AP NEWS. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  76. ^ "2 JOURNALISTS KILLED COVERING ROMANIA BATTLES". Deseret News. 25 December 1989. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  77. ^ "Seemo: after 20 years no arrest for the murder of Dada Vujasinovic". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso - Transeuropa. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  78. ^ Bona, Marzia (10 November 2015). "Cenzolovka, in memory of Slavko Ćuruvija". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso - Transeuropa. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  79. ^ "Serbia: "The court shows a clear intention to release those accused of murdering journalist Ćuruvija"". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso - Transeuropa. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  80. ^ Filip Rudic/BIRN. "Serbian TV Workers Killed by NATO Strike". Last Despatches. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  81. ^ Myers, Steven Lee (17 April 2000). "Chinese Embassy Bombing: A Wide Net of Blame". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  82. ^ "Veran Matić: fighting impunity". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso - Transeuropa. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  83. ^ "Serbian authorities must investigate the murder of Luka Popov". European Federation of Journalists. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  84. ^ "OSCE Representative welcomes arrests following murder of journalist in Serbia, praises police swift action". OSCE. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  85. ^ "Aktuality.sk". Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  86. ^ a b Virostkova, Lucia (27 February 2018). "Journalist murder shocks Slovakia". Euobserver. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  87. ^ "Nick Vogel". The Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial. Newseum. Archived from the original on 1 July 2002. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  88. ^ "Alexander Klimchuk". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  89. ^ "Grigol Chikhladze". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  90. ^ "Asesinado a tiros un periodista deportivo". El País (in Spanish). 12 August 1977. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  91. ^ de la Serna, Victor (10 May 2000). "José Luis López de Lacalle". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  92. ^ "The BBC journalist assassinated with a poison-tipped umbrella". BBC News. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  93. ^ Taylor, Dan (20 September 2020). "Barrow journalist Philip Geddes who died in IRA bombing remembered 37 years on". The Mail. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  94. ^ Cusack, Jim (1 October 2001). "Obituary: Martin O'Hagan". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  95. ^ "Journalist shot dead in Derry during rioting in the city". BBC News. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.