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In Memory Of Canadian Journalist Zahra Kazemi
By Maurice Ali, Journalist
Zahra Kazemi
Zahra Kazemi was a Canadian Freelance Photojournalist arrested, tortured and raped and ultimately killed (supposedly from a brain hemorrhage) for photographing a protest in Iran. Zahra was 54 at the time. The story of her death affected me personally as I am also a photojournalist who covers protests. I play it safe and just cover events here at home in Canada. However, the professionals like Zahra Kazemi go where the action is and sometimes pay the price. The queries about her fate by our Canadian government happened when this organization was just beginning and we were in no position to act. This is just one of the many cases where support for journalists is clearly needed on the international level. We, at this organization, hope in time to be a lobby of force at the U.N. and be better able to bring such matters to the forefront as an advocate to all journalists in the field.
Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi (who also held Iranian citizenship) died in Iranian custody on July 11, 2003, three weeks after she was arrested for taking pictures during a student protest in Tehran.
At or about July 13, 2003, Iran's official news agency stated that Zahra had died in hospital, after suffering a stroke while she was being "questioned". On July 16, 2003, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Iran's vice-president, conceded that Kazemi died as a result of being beaten.
An Iranian security agent was acquitted of a charge of "quasi-intentional murder of Zahra. However, in July 2004, Iran's judiciary said the injuries that killed Zahra were the result of an "accident."
There is little we could do for our fellow journalist and Canadian. However, I have it in my power to award, posthumously, the first IAIJ Award For Journalism to photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. This award is our first and carries no trophy or monetary prise. It is just our way of acknowledging the sacrifice our fellow journalist made in pursuit of telling the world the news.
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