Fisked

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The Indie has surpassed itself (via Chrenkoff):

The judge in charge of Saddam Hussein’s trial was in fear for his life today after his identity was revealed by a UK newspaper.

The Iraqi Special Tribunal had asked the media to protect his anonymity. But he was named by Robert Fisk, foreign correspondent of The Independent.

Downing Street warned that the judge now faced reprisals from Saddam loyalists. A Foreign Office source added: “Obviously this shows questionable judgment about an individual’s safety.” When TV footage was broadcast yesterday, censors made sure the judge was pictured only from behind.

Simon Kelner, editor of The Independent, defended his decision, saying: “This was not a British court, it was an Iraqi court. We don’t want to compromise the judge’s safety but the cameras showed side views of him and he was instantly recognised by many Iraqis.”

Comments

  1. Anthony Avatar

    Do you think Fisk considers himself impartial?

  2. Mick H Avatar
    Mick H

    I imagine he’d say he was attempting to tell the truth, and if that strikes some people as problematic, that’s their problem. Something like that. Maybe he’d say that impartiality isn’t his job: he tells it like he sees it. I don’t know. I’d be curious to know if he ever felt embarrassed or ashamed of some of his reporting: all those Cassandra-like prophesies of doom. But probably not.

  3. Mark Avatar
    Mark

    If the judge is murdered by terrorists, one might make a case for Fisk’s complicity in his death.

  4. Daniel Avatar
    Daniel

    Is it true that Arab stations named the judge? If so, much as I dislike Fisk, he’s not really the main culprit here.

  5. Daniel Avatar
    Daniel

    Is it true that Arab stations named the judge? If so, much as I dislike Fisk, he’s not really the main culprit here.

  6. Anthony Avatar

    a British newspaper to the Arab media?
    If a British tabloid decided to run a campaign telling people where paedophiles lived, should the Independent publish the addresses as well safe in the knowledge that any vigilante actions would be the tabloid’s fault, and of course not nothing to do with them.
    They were asked not to publish the name and they did. They could have on principle decided they would not, regardless of what other media outlets did. Afterall, the name of the judge is effectively meaningless to the Independent’s readership and of no practical use.

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