Bristol NUJ

The BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been released at last after 114 days of captivity in Gaza. Having literally dreamt many times of being free during his “living nightmare” at the hands of his kidnappers the Army of Islam, only to find himself back in the same room upon waking, his dream of freedom is now a reality. The support of journalists around the world, including the BBC, the NUJ, and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, global rallies and demonstrations around the world, and an online petition of 200,000 names in his support were a source of comfort to him. He was able to learn of efforts to free him by listening to the BBC World Service on radio.

At times Alan was hooded and handcuffed, kept in chains for 24 hours,  and had what appeared to be an explosives belt put on him with his captors threatening to detonate it if they were attacked. He did not see the sun for several months and described his ordeal as “like being buried alive”.

The Army of Islam is a a shadowy militant group dominated by Gaza’s powerful Dugmush clan.  After the Hamas takeover of Gaza, Alan Johnston’s kidnappers had become less comfortable and secure. Hamas demanded Alan’s release and he was handed over to their officials, holding a press conference with the former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya from Hamas.  Alan is now in the British Consulate in Jerusalem.

Jeremy Dear, NUJ General Secretary said: ““This is a dream come true.  We have all campaigned, lobbied, appealed and worked for Alan’s release - and now we look forward to welcoming him home. “The criminals who abducted Alan should now face justice and a strong warning be sent to all those around the world who target journalists that such threats and actions will not go unpunished.

“Alan’s freedom is what we have wished for for the last 114 days - but we also know there are hundreds of other journalists in captivity around the world - we must redouble our efforts to secure their release too”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6267928.stm http://ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5089&Language=EN http://www.nuj.org.uk/