Taisir Alluni

Taisir Alluni.

Taisir Alluni ( Arabic تيسير علوني Taisīr ʿAllūnī ; * 1955 in Deir ez-Zor , Syria ) is a correspondent for the Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera . He was detained in Spain until March 2012 .

Alluni studied economics in Syria and from 1985 in Spain. In 1988 he became a Spanish citizen. He then taught Arabic and took various jobs in Ceuta and Granada . In 1996 he started working for the EFE agency as an expert on the Arab world and as a translator. During this time he began working as a freelance correspondent for Al Jazeera.

In 1999 Al Jazeera sent him to Kabul ( Afghanistan ), where he stayed during the September 11, 2001 attacks . Alluni remained in the country during the subsequent military strikes by the USA and Great Britain against the ruling Taliban and was thus the only foreign correspondent during this time. His photos of civilian victims, taken in the destitute villages of Afghanistan and in the shabby streets of Kabul, sparked international outrage over the US acts in Afghanistan. He also managed to conduct a television interview with Osama bin Laden a few weeks after the attacks .

After the Al Jazeera office in Kabul was bombed, Alluni left Afghanistan and settled at Al Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar . He later was the station's correspondent in Baghdad during the 2003 Iraq war .

He was arrested in Spain in November 2003 on charges of being a member of al-Qaeda and of helping to prepare for the September 11, 2001 attacks. He is said to have played the role of a money courier for al-Qaeda during his time in Afghanistan, which he denies.

On September 26, 2005, a Spanish court sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment. Although he was acquitted of allegations of membership in al-Qaeda , the court found him to be an assistant to the terrorist organization. Due to his precarious health, he has been able to spend the remainder of his sentence in house arrest since October 2006. After the rejection of an appeal by a Spanish court, lawyer Allunis took the case to the European Court of Human Rights . On January 17, 2012, the latter decided that Alluni was illegally imprisoned. He was released in March 2012 and returned to Doha.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Aljazeera: Taysir Alluni: A reporter behind bars ( Memento of the original from August 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 19, 2006 
2. ↑ CNN: Transcript of Bin Laden's October interview , February 5, 2002
3. ^ Aljazeera: Spain court rejects Alluni's plea , August 1, 2007
4. ^ European court: Al Jazeera's Alluni trial illegal . Doha Center For Media Freedom. January 19, 2012. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 11, 2012. 
5. ↑ Freed Al Jazeera journalist back to Doha . Al Jazeera English. March 12, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.

Web links

• Alluni jailed for 7 years in Al-Qaeda trial , Middle East Online (from September 26, 2005)
• Aljazeera to appeal Alluni's conviction , Aljazeera English ( Memento of November 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• Al-Jazeera's Terrorist Reporter , Americandaily.com (September 27, 2007 memento on Internet Archive )