New York, February 22, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killings in Syria of international journalists Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik, who died this morning during shelling of the besieged city of Homs.
“Our colleagues Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik gave their lives to report a story of grave importance, a story the Syrian government has sought to choke off from rest of the world,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. “The killing of these journalists, who were observers in a conflict zone, represents an unacceptable escalation in the price that local and international journalists are being forced to pay.”
Along with the deaths of Colvin, an American reporting for The Sunday Times of London, and Ochlik, a French photojournalist, an undetermined number of other journalists were wounded in the bombardment of Homs. A statement issued by Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Times, said the newspaper’s photographer, Paul Conroy, was among the injured. News reports said Edith Bouvier, a reporter for Le Figaro, was injured as well.
The Syrian conflict has become exceedingly dangerous to cover. New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid died Thursday from an apparent asthma attack while covering the conflict. Four other local and international journalists have died since November.