Syrian Filmmaker Naji Jerf Killed in Turkey After Exposing ISIS Crimes in
Aleppo
Global Voices, December 28, 2015 15:47 GMT
https://globalvoices.org/2015/12/28/syrian-filmmaker-naji-jerf-killed-in-turkey-after-exposing-isis-crimes-in-aleppo/?utm_source=Global+Voices&utm_campaign=370b8c4c39-Dec+28_2015_Daily_Digest_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_633e82444a-370b8c4c39-290270321
Filmmaker Naji Jerf is the fourth Syrian netizen associated with the news
collective named Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently who has been killed.
Syrian filmmaker Naji Jerf was shot and killed in broad daylight in
Gaziantep, Turkey, close to the Syrian border on December 27, 2015. It is
widely believed that Jerf, 38, was killed in retaliation for uploading a
documentary he made documenting ISIS crimes in Aleppo, Syria.
Jerf's murder was announced yesterday by award-winning Syrian citizen
journalism collective "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" (RBSS), which
has been exposing crimes committed by the ISIS from its self-proclaimed
capital of Raqqa, in Syria, challenging the narrative the blood-thirsty
group wants to project about itself.
According to the RBSS, Jerf was killed by a so-called suppressor gun:
Our movie director Naji Jerf "father of 2 kids" was assassinated by
suppressor gun today in Gaziantep "#Turkey" pic.twitter.com/F3TFZyAwk9
Syrian online publication Zaman Alwasl says Jerf was shot in the head by an
attacker with a silenced pistol, in front of a building which houses Syrian
NGOs. According to Syrian activist Shakeeb Al-Jabri, this video is what made
Jerf a target:
This work on IS in Aleppo is one of the reasons Naji Jerf was killed today
in Gaziantep. Least you can do is watch it.
https://t.co/7E1TbFzx3e--Shakeeb
Al-Jabri (@LeShaque) December 27, 2015
The 24-minute video, shared on YouTube, documents ISIS’ crimes in Aleppo,
which include the kidnapping and murder of paramedics, in 2013 and 2014,
which Jerf filmed while there. The video, uploaded one week ago, has so far
been viewed 15.8K times on Jerf's channel.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that the video also has
been screened on pan-Arab Al Arabiya satellite television. It has attracted
more than 12 million views and tens of thousands of comments on the
station's Facebook page, Al-Arabiya reported.
In addition to his work training members of the RBSS, which last month won
CPJ's 2015 International Press Freedom Award for its courage in covering
news in Syria, Jerf is the editor-in-chief of Hentah, an independent online
monthly magazine which reports on the lives of Syrians. He had also made a
documentary on RBSS activities and work.
At least three other journalists associated with RBSS have been killed. On
December 16, 2015, Ahmad Mohamed Almossa was assassinated by masked men in
Idlib, in north western Syria. In October 2015, another RBSS member Ibrahim
Abd al-Qader was killed by ISIS militants, along with fellow journalist
Fares Hamadi, in Urfa, southeastern Turkey and in May 2014, Al-Moutaz Bellah
Ibrahim was kidnapped and then killed by ISIS.
In a series of tweets, RBSS blamed ISIS for Jerf's murder:
"#ISIS say they will Invaded Rome and control the world But they afraid from
a group of non violent activists oh What a Fragile state #Raqqa"
(@Raqqa_SL) December 28, 2015
"if a state afraid from a group of non violent activists Definitely this
state will fall soon today or tomorrow #Raqqa #Syria #ISIS"
(@Raqqa_SL) December 28, 2015
"They are fighting with us with Bullets but we fight with Words but we think
every word from us Equal to 1 Bullet from them #Raqqa #Syria"
(@Raqqa_SL) December 28, 2015
The CPJ has called upon Turkish authorities to protect Syrian journalists
who have fled to Turkey, and to bring Jerf's killers to justice.
RBSS is regularly quoted in media and offers a close perspective on
atrocities committed by the ISIS, Syrian government forces and the coalition
airstrikes targeting civilians. The group, founded in April 2014, has been
threatened by ISIS for exposing their crimes and brutality to the rest of
the world, and for showcasing the resistance of the people of Raqqa to its
rule.
To follow RBSS, check out their work on Facebook, Twitter and blog, which
have thousands of followers.
Reporters without Borders ranks Syria among the worst free speech offenders,
at 176 out of 179 countries in its worldwide index on the freedom of the
press. Since March 2011, 50 journalists have been killed in Syria, eight
journalists imprisoned, 17 netizens jailed and 141 netizens and citizen
journalists killed.
