Stanislaus N.I.M. "Stan" Storimans (January 8, 1969 – August 12, 2008) was a Dutch RTL television veteran

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. He had planned to publish a book describing his 20 years of reporting from hotspots like

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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 Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, the former

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(now

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) and the former

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, among others. He was killed in a

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n airstrike on the Georgian city of Gori during the 2008

Russo-Georgian War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

Death

Storimans was killed during Russian bombing of the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

n city of Gori during the war in Georgia.Blasts rock Georgian town Gori, several dead

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, 2008-08-12, access date 2008-08-17 Seven others were injured in the attack, including a Dutch

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for RTL, Jeroen Akkermans, while the

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i journalist Zadok Yehezkeli was seriously wounded and evacuated to Israel for treatment after surgery in

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. At least two other people were also reported killed. The bomb hit an area near the media centre that had been set up on the roof of the city's television and radio centre.Dutch journalist killed in Russian bombing of Gori

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, August 12, 2008

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has reported it found the evidence that

cluster bomb A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...

has been used by the

ns in the attack which killed Storimans. The initial

report that their analysis of the footage from the scene shows that the explosions may have come from mortar fire. Sandra E. Roelofs, the Dutch-born wife of

Georgian President Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

, offered to attend the funeral, but his family declined the offer as they didn't want to politicise the ceremony. Storimans was buried on August 21, 2008, at the burial site "Vredehof" in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

. Dutch ministers

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and Maxime Verhagen were present during the memorial service at the St. Lucaskerk.

Investigations

The Dutch member of parliament and Foreign Affairs spokesman

Harry van Bommel Henricus "Harry" van Bommel (born 24 June 1962) is a Dutch politician, anti-globalisation activist and former educator. As a member of the Socialist Party (Socialistische Partij), he was an MP from May 1998 to March 2017. He focused on matter ...

said that Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen summoned the Russian ambassador for clarification regarding reports of alleged use of cluster bombs by Russian forces in Georgia; he also urged the Dutch government to persuade the Russians to sign the

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. The Director-General of

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, Koïchiro Matsuura, also condemned the killings and recalled the obligation under

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to respect the civilian status of reporters. He called on the authorities to investigate and take appropriate action. On October 20, 2008, Dutch government announced its investigation has found that Storimans was in fact killed by a Russian cluster munition after the withdrawal of the Georgian army from the city. The investigative team sent to Georgia to gather

forensic evidence Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts". Hu ...

and eyewitness accounts concluded Storimans was killed by a munition "propelled by a type of

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

that is only found in Russia's military arsenal". Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen called the findings "very serious" and said in a statement he had "made that clear to the Russian authorities. Cluster munitions must not be used in this way. There were no troops present in Gori and innocent civilians were killed." Verhagen said the Netherlands plans to raise the matter with the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

.Dutch: Russian cluster bomb killed journalist

, October 20, 2008

References

External links

'Stan was de beste collega die ik had'
RTL, 14 August 2008

Video

Journalist killed in Georgia
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'', 2008-08-13 (graphic images) {{DEFAULTSORT:Storimans, Stan 1969 births 2008 deaths Dutch photojournalists Journalists killed in Georgia (country) Journalists killed while covering military conflicts People of the Russo-Georgian War People from Tilburg Deaths by airstrike Netherlands–Russia relations 21st-century Dutch photographers