25 November 2009

Canadian journalist freed
after 15 months in captivity

Albertan, Australian colleague abducted
while on assignment in Africa

Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and an Australian colleague were freed today after being held captive in Somalia for 15 months.

Lindhout, 28, a broadcast and print journalist, was a freelance contributor to the Red Deer Advocate, where the editorial department is represented by the Media & Communications Workers of Alberta (CWA Canada Local 30400).

Hundreds of CWA Canada members recently added their names to a petition to the Canadian government to do more to win the release of Lindhout and photographer Nigel Brennan, who were kidnapped near Mogadishu on Aug. 23, 2008.

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) had been closely monitoring the case and led the campaign that gathered more than 1,000 signatures.

"It's wonderful to hear that the long ordeal is over — the longest period of captivity for a Canadian journalist," said Arnold Amber, CJFE President. "We look forward to having her back home in Canada."

Lindhout, in a telephone interview this afternoon with CTV News Channel, said the kidnappers turned them over to the Somalia government after a ranson was paid for their release and that money "was paid by our families."

Iranian television reported in October 2008 that their abductors had threatened to kill Lindhout and Brennan if a $2.5-million ransom were not paid by the end of that month.

This past summer, a woman claiming to be Lindhout phoned Canadian television networks pleading for the Canadian government to help bring her home.

The parents of the captive journalists issued a statement in August saying they were continuing to work tirelessly to free the pair "with little outside support."

Lindhout told CTV today that her 15-month ordeal was "extremely oppressive." She said she was kept by herself at all times and had no one to speak to. "There were times that I was beaten, that I was tortured. It was an extremely, extremely difficult situation."

She said she is eager now to return home to her family in Sylvan Lake in central Alberta. "I have to sit down and re-evaluate my whole life," she said.

The Baghdad-based writer and photojournalist who has significant experience reporting from the world's trouble spots, including Iraq and Afghanistan, was on a tour of Africa when armed men ambushed their vehicle. A Somali journalist who was serving as a fixer for Lindhout and Brennan, and two drivers were also abducted. The fixer and the drivers were released in January.