Freed reporter tells of murder
Freed journalist returns to Rome and describes the murder of his Afghan driver.
“I get off my knees. Four young men grab the driver and shove his face into the sand. They cut his throat and continue until they have cut his whole head“ Daniele Mastrogiacomo, Released journalist in La Repubblica newspaper |
“I can still see it now,” Mastrogiacomo said in La Repubblica. “I get off my knees. Four young men grab the driver and shove his face into the sand. They cut his throat and continue until they have cut his whole head.”
“He is not able to make a gasp. They clean the knife on his tunic. They tie his severed head to his body. They bring it to the river and let it go.”
About 150 relatives of the driver demonstrated on Tuesday in Helmand province against the government, saying it ignored his plight to focus on securing Mastrogiacomo’s release.
A spokesman for Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, said a deal had been struck in order to secure the journalist’s release but would not give any details.
“The president … had instructed security authorities to find out any possible way for the release of the Italian journalist in recognition for the friendship with Italy and its co-operation with Afghanistan,” he told reporters.