Rights Group Calls on Syria to Probe Journalist's Murder
A Syrian media rights group on Tuesday demanded a full inquiry into the death of a journalist who was reportedly shot in the head by gunmen waiting for him outside his Damascus home.
Shukri Ahmed Ratib Abu Burghul died on Monday in a Damascus hospital from gunshot wounds suffered on December 30, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.
The Syrian Center for Freedom of Expression "called on the responsible authorities to open an immediate and clear investigation to shed light on the circumstances of Shukri's death."
Shukri hosted a weekly program on Radio Damascus and had previously served as the deputy director of the censorship department at the government's Ath-Thawra newspaper, according to RSF.
The Paris-based media rights groups also urged Arab League observers who are in Syria to monitor the continuing unrest that broke out in March to visit the scene of the shooting and conduct an investigation.
The observers must also probe the deaths of all journalists killed during the regime's crackdown and dissent and visit the journalists and bloggers being detained.
"In the absence any concrete response from the Arab League's observers to these requests, Reporters Without Borders questions the effectiveness of their mission and fears that it is a sham that will just legitimize the Syrian government's repression," the group said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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