Maya Naser, a correspondent for Iran’s Press TV channel, was killed by a sniper while covering the explosion at the Syrian army’s headquarters in the Umayyad Square on September 26, 2012. His colleague Hussein Mortada, from the Iranian Arabic-language TV Al-Alam (The World) was injured, as well as the channel’s photographer.

The SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom strongly condemns the repression of journalists in Syria, whatever their political or professional affiliation, and stresses the need to protect them during any internal or external conflict. SKeyes also calls on journalists to be extremely cautious while on duty, especially in conflict zones, and on relevant parties to conduct a swift transparent investigation in order to clarify the circumstances of the incident. Any attack on journalists is tantamount to war crime, and perpetrators must be brought before the relevant international judicial authorities.