Lissy Schmidt (ca. 1959 – 3 April 1994), also known by her pseudonyms Milena Ergen and Petra Sert, was a German journalist who worked for the
Agence France Presse
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D. ...
, ''
Frankfurter Rundschau'' (
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
), and ''
Der Tagesspiegel
''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...
'' (
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
).
She and her driver were both killed in an ambush outside of
Sulaymaniyah
Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, G ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, while she was reporting about the Iraqi Kurds.
The publication of one of her books in Turkish led to its ban in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and provoked a freedom of expression case in Europe.
Personal
Lissy Schmidt was from
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
She was a member of
Pax Christi
Pax Christi International is an international Catholic peace movement. The Pax Christi International website declares its mission is "to transform a world shaken by violence, terrorism, deepening inequalities, and global insecurity."
History
...
in
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
and founded chapters in Wiesbaden and
Idstein.
Schmidt knew two
Kurdish-language dialects,
Sorani
Central Kurdish (), also called Sorani (), is a Kurdish dialect or a language that is spoken in Iraq, mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan in western Iran. Sorani is one of the two o ...
and
Kirmanji, and according to ''
Die Zeit'' newspaper, she was well-known among Kurds.
She was murdered when she was 35 years old.
A monument in her memory was constructed in
Sulaymaniyah
Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, G ...
, Iraq.
Career
Lissy Schmidt worked for Agence France Presse, ''Frankfurter Rundschau'', and ''Der Tagesspiegel''.
Before reporting from Iraq, she had reported on Kurdish issues in Turkey for ''Frankfurter Rundschau''. She had been assigned by the AFP to work in Kurdish Iraq on Kurdish issues and had been based there since 1991.
Under her pseudonym Milena Ergen, Schmidt published two books on Kurdistan, ''Tatort Kurdistan'' (Translated: "Crime Scene Kurdistan") in 1989 and ''Wie Teuer Ist Die Freiheit?'' (Translated: How Expensive is Freedom), which was published after her death in 1994. Her latter work was also published posthumously by Turkish publisher
Ayşe Nur Zarakolu
Ayşe Nur Zarakolu (née Sarısözen) (9 May 1946 – 28 January 2002) was a Turkish author, publisher and human rights advocate. She was co-founder, with her husband Ragıp Zarakolu, of notable Turkish publishing house Belge and, in the 1980s, ...
in Turkish in 1997.
The Turkish government banned Schmidt's book and pressed charges against Zarakolu, although Zarakolu died while the case was in progress before the
European Commission of Human Rights
The European Commission of Human Rights was a special body of the Council of Europe.
From 1954 to the entry into force of Protocol 11 to the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court of Hu ...
.
Death
Lissy Schmidt was killed along with Aziz Kadir Farag, her driver and bodyguard, on 3 April 1994 when a car with a driver and an armed attacker passed their vehicle and the perpetrator shot into their car.
''The Independent'' (UK) reported that two Iraqi men later confessed to their Iraqi Kurdish interrogators that they killed Lissy Schmidt and her driver because their family members were held captive and the Iraqi government ordered them to kill the foreigners to ensure the protection of their loved ones.
Two men were later hanged for her murder.
Context
The
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
accused the Iraqi government of putting prices on the killing of foreigners in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
The month before Schmidt's murder, two Swedish reporters were injured after a bomb exploded in their empty car and two Czechs and two Austrians were injured by other attacks. Two other UN guards were injured two days after Schmidts murder.
Impact
The murder of German journalists does not occur frequently but Schmidt is part of a growing number to have been killed in conflicts abroad.
Reactions
German politician
Angelika Beer
Angelika Beer (born 24 May 1957 in Kiel) is a German politician.
2004 to 2009 she was a Member of the European Parliament for Alliance 90/The Greens, part of the European Greens. She was chair of the delegation for relations with Iran and a membe ...
wore ribbons in her hair of the Kurdish national colors in honor of her friend Lissy Schmidt and for this was criticized by the Turkish government while on an official visit.
See also
*
Ayşe Nur Zarakolu
Ayşe Nur Zarakolu (née Sarısözen) (9 May 1946 – 28 January 2002) was a Turkish author, publisher and human rights advocate. She was co-founder, with her husband Ragıp Zarakolu, of notable Turkish publishing house Belge and, in the 1980s, ...
*
Ragip Zarakolu
References
External links
Newseum entry* Von Höges, Clemens
''Der Spiegel'' (21 June 1999)
''Focus Magazin'' (21 May 1994)
"Rares Gut" ''Die Zeit'' (6 May 1994)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Lissy
1959 births
1994 deaths
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Deaths by firearm in Iraq
European Court of Human Rights cases involving Turkey
German women journalists
Assassinated German journalists
People from Wiesbaden
20th-century German women writers
20th-century journalists
20th-century pseudonymous writers
Pseudonymous women writers
20th-century assassinated people