Photojournalist Anton Hammerl Was Shot, Killed, April 5 In Libya

 

TUNIS, TUNISIA (May 19, 2011) – Two of the four journalists released by the Libyan government in Tripoli yesterday already knew that their traveling companion, photojournalist Anton Hammerl, had been shot and killed by Libyan government soldiers on April 5 in a remote corner of the desert, more than a month ago.

But they waited until they were safe in Tunisia today to break the news to Hammerl's wife and family in London, a decision they made jointly while being held in captivity for more than six weeks, they told the Global Post tonight.

American journalists Clare Gillis and Global Post reporter James Foley were traveling with South African photojournalist Hammerl, along with Spanish photojournalist Manu Brabo, on April 5 and were covering rebels on the outskirts of Brega.

When they arrived near the front lines that morning, they said, there were reports that Libyan loyalists were "dug in" nearby. They exited their car and were following rebels, who were advancing.

But within moments the rebels turned around and were in full retreat as Libyan forces approached over a hill in military trucks loaded with soldiers who where firing into the air.

Foley told the Global Post that they came under fire and bullets were hitting the ground all around them. He says they all dropped to the ground but Hammerl was closest to the fighting and cried out for help.

Hammerl was on the ground and bleeding profusely from the stomach, Foley said. He yelled to him, "Are you okay?" Hammerl yelled back, "No." He says that is the last they heard from the photographer. The wounds, Foley said, looked so severe that he does not think Hammerl could have survived without immediate medical attention, if even then.

Foley, Gillis, and Brabo were punched, hit in the head with AK-47 gun stocks, handcuffed with electrical cords, and thrown into a truck. They last saw Hammerl's limp body lying in the sand.

The journalists told the Global Post that while they were in captivity they decided they would be in greater danger if they spoke about Hammerl's death. They decided that if and when they were set free they would tell his family first, and then the world, what had happened.

After Foley and Gillis crossed the border into Tunisia today – in the escort of Hungarian diplomats – they said they called Hammerl's wife Penny Sukhraj in London through an intermediary and broke the devastating news. Soon afterwards the family released a statement confirming the photographer's death.

"Words are simply not enough to describe the unbelievable trauma the Hammerl family is going through," the family's statement released in London reads. "From the moment Anton disappeared in Libya we have lived in hope as the Libyan officials assured us that they had Anton. It is intolerably cruel that Gaddafi loyalists have known Anton's fate all along and chose to cover it up."

Hammerl, 41, an award-winning photographer, was the father of three young children, a daughter and two sons.

The British Journal of Photography says that since 2007 and until late last year, Hammerl was a regular photographer for Accountancy Age and Financial Director, which along with BJP is published by Incisive Media. Before freelancing, he was a picture editor and chief photographer for The Saturday Star in Johannesburg.

The fourth journalist released by Libya yesterday was Nigel Chandler, a Brit. They journalists said they were held in a series of detention centers around Tripoli since their capture and that their release was delayed by NATO air strikes, which damaged the justice building where they were tried and found guilty of entering Libya without a visa.

The Libyan court commuted their sentences, and they were released 24 hours later and broght to the Rixos Hotel for the night as guests of the Libyan government. They had been visited two weeks ago by a Hungarian diplomat, who confirmed they were healthy and in a safe house, and they had been allowed a phone call home to their worried families.

The Libyan government offered the four journalists the opportunity to remain in Libya or to leave under diplomatic protection, and they decided to leave. They did not speak of Hammerl, however, until they were out of the country.

There had been no sight or news of Hammerl however, and no phone calls, and yesterday when he was not with the four when they were released the speculation about his well-being grew.

South African International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said the Libyan government had lied to them about Hammerl's fate during the month.

"We kept getting reassured at the highest level that he was alive until his colleagues were released and shared the information yesterday," she told reporters in Pretoria.

South African officials, including their ambassador, had repeatedly gone to Tripoli to try to find out the photographer's whereabouts and to try to negotiate for his release.

Hammerl was a South African who was born to Austrian parents, so he had dual citizenship, and he lived in London.

Otto Ditz, Austria's ambassador to South Africa, said: “We are very disappointed at the Libyan side that they had not conveyed the news. Now we hope they will be co-operative and show us where he is buried so we can bring him to his family for proper burial.”

An online gallery features the final images Hammerl uploaded shortly before he was killed.

 

 

 

 

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