A group of international organizations launched the “People’s Court” on Tuesday, to hold accountable the killers of three journalists, one of them is Syrian, according to a statement issued by Reporters Without Borders “violence against journalists has increased in the world, and since 1992, more than 1,400 journalists have been killed, and in eight out of 10 cases the killer is still at large. In response to this state of impunity, the People’s Court for the Killing of Journalists, led by Journalists Without Borders, the International Press Commission, and Reporters Without Borders, will officially begin on the occasion of World Day to End Impunity.
The People’s Court extends for a period of six months, and this week’s opening hearing will be followed by three state-specific hearings and a closing session on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, 2022. The opening session will call thirteen witnesses to testify on patterns of violence, the causes of impunity and the responsibility of States. The prosecutor, renowned international human rights lawyer Almodina Bernabeu, will formally hand over the indictment to the judges’ committee. The indictment included charges against the governments of Sri Lanka, Mexico and Syria for failing to bring justice to the murders of Lasantha Wickrematung, Miguel Angel López Velasco and Nabil Al-Sharbaji.
The witnesses list includes Matthew Caruana Galizia, journalist and son of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, investigative journalist Pavla Holkova, and Khadija Genghis, fiancée of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported.
Nabil Al-Sharbaji, a participant at the beginning of the peace movement in Daraya, was demonstrating against the detention of activists in front of the Interior Ministry in Damascus, when security forces first arrested him on March 16, 2011. Today he informed his family of his arrest.
Journalist Nabil Al-Sharbaji has been detained since 2012 and his news disappeared after he was transferred to Daraa prison, and his death was confirmed on December 28, 2016.
