Summary: On
Saturday, the French Presidential office stated “Four French journalists who had been held hostage in Syria for 10 months
have been released.”
“Edouard Elias, Didier François,
Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres are in good health despite the tough conditions
they endured during their captivity,” says the Elysee Palace in a statement.
“Turkish broadcaster DHA aired video
of the released journalists after they arrived in Turkey. They are expected to
return to France in the coming hours,” the Elysee Palace said. The President of
France, Francois Hollande was happy to hear about the release of the
journalists and was grateful to those who helped with the release. The four men had been in captivity since June
of 2013.
Two of them, Francois and Elias,
were on assignment in Syria for French radio station Europe 1. They both
disappeared on June 6th. Henin and Torres were taken hostage on June
22nd. Henin was working on assignment for Le Point magazine and the
TV channel Arte, while Torres was there to cover municipal elections, the
ministry said.
According to the Committee to Protect
Journalists, “Syria was the
most deadly place for journalists on the job in 2013.” Just in 2013 alone, 29 journalists were
killed, 60 were kidnapped and 30 are still missing.
Analysis: It’s
great to hear that the four French men got back to their homeland after being
in captivity for so long. I wonder what the motives of the Syrians were for
taking these men and I also wonder why they decided to release at this certain
time. Based on the number of journalist
killed, kidnapped, or missing, it appears that Syria is a dangerous place for
journalist. Perhaps the countries they
work for should not put their lives in danger, just to get a news story.
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/19/world/europe/france-syria-journalists-freed/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
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