Press TV reporter dies in suspicious' car crash in Suru |
October 20, 2014, Monday/ 13:55:04/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM / ISTANBUL |
http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_press-tv-reporter-dies-in-suspicious-car-crash-in-suruc_362107.html |
Lebanese-American reporter Serena Shim, who worked with Iran's state-run Press TV, died in a car crash in the Suru? district of Sanliurfa on Sunday in what Press TV called a "suspicious" accident after she had said she was accused of spying by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT). The 30-year-old correspondent, who was in Suru? to cover the battle of Kobani, a Kurdish town besieged by the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Syria, said in a televised speech on Press TV on Friday she had been accused by MIT of espionage and feared being arrested. In a video on Press TV's website, Shin shared: ?I'm very surprised at this accusation. I've even thought of approaching Turkish intelligence because I have nothing to hide and I have never done anything aside from my job, and I'd like to make that apparent to them. However, I am a bit worried because as you know, and as the viewers know, Turkey has been labeled by Reporters Without Borders as the largest prison for journalists, so I am a bit frightened about what they might use against me.? Shim's car collided with a heavy vehicle when she was returning from reporting in Suru? on Sunday, Press TV reported. Cameraman Judj July, who accompanied Shim, was wounded and taken to Suru? State Hospital. The driver of the heavy vehicle was detained. Shim had earlier claimed that ISIL fighters were being transported in the humanitarian aid convoys of World Food Organization and other NGOs en route to Syria from Turkey, adding that she had footage to prove her claim. Speaking to Press TV, Rodney Martin, the chairman of the American Nationalist Association, suggested that ?Shim was the victim of a Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] black op, most likely with the cooperation of Turkey who just recently accused her of being a ?spy' after she exposed Turkey's assistance of ISIL.? Sanliurfa Governor Izzettin K???k, however, has denied the media claims with regards to the death of Shim, saying a detailed statement will be provided after the investigation into the incident is finalized. |