Militants get death sentences for killing two Iraqi journalists
The Iraqi criminal court sentenced two militiamen affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah to death for assassinating two journalists in Basra in January 2020.
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Basra Criminal Court sentenced a second man to death on Nov. 1 for involvement in a death squad that killed multiple Iraqi journalists and activists. Another convict was also sentenced to death a day before for the same crime.
According to Iraqi security officials, Hamza Kadhim al-Aidani and Aqeel Hadi were arrested in early 2021 with other members who worked as part of a “network of 16 people responsible for assassinations.” Photos of the men under arrest were widely circulated today.
The court’s conviction is preliminary and subject to a 30-day appeal period.
The victims were Ahmad Abdessamad, an Al-Dijla channel news correspondent, and his cameraman, Safaa Ghali, who covered the 2019 protests in Basra. On Jan. 11, 2020, as they were driving home, another car pulled up next to theirs and opened fire, killing Abdessamad on the spot and injuring Ghali, who later died in the hospital.
