Monday, April 21, 2014

French Hostages in Syria by Addison Jordan

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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