Sarsam, a cameraman working with Kurdistan TV, a station affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, was kidnapped and shot by suspected insurgents.
Sarsam was abducted on March 13 in front of Mosul University. The following day his captors returned him to the same location, where they killed him in front of a number of pedestrians, several Iraqi sources told CPJ.
Colleagues and a family member said burn marks were found on Sarsam’s upper body, an indication of possible torture. The family member told CPJ that the cameraman’s Kurdistan TV identification cards and a media card issued by U.S.-backed coalition forces were placed on his corpse by his killers.
Sarsam had worked with Kurdistan TV since January 2004. CPJ sources said Sarsam had videotaped confessions of insurgents held by Iraqi police in Mosul that were aired on a program on Kurdistan TV called “Al-Irhab ala Haqiateh” (Terrorism Exposed). His colleagues and a family member suspected his murderers were motivated by his filming of the detainee confessions.