The Islamic State executed independent citizen journalist Ruqia Hassan in what is believed to be the group’s first capital punishment of a woman for reporting inside its territory, posted citizen journalists from Raqqa on Facebook over the weekend.
Better known by her pseudonym “Nisan Ibrahim,” Hassan wrote about life under IS rule on her personal Facebook page and “often reported on airstrikes in Raqqa as they happened,” Furat al-Wafaa, an independent citizen journalist formerly with the Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently media campaign, tells Syria Direct’s Ammar Hammou.
Although the exact date of the execution is unknown, Hassan’s social media reporting abruptly stopped on July 21, 2015. At some point between July and December, Hassan disappeared from Raqqa city.
IS informed Hassan’s family of her execution on charges of “espionage” only three days ago, reported Syrian opposition Arabic-language media on Monday.
In one of her last posts, which was a response to an IS decision to ban Wi-Fi hotspots in Raqqa city, Ruqia showed a capacity for joking about the conditions citizen journalists work under in IS-held territories: “Go ahead and cut off the internet, our messenger pigeons won’t complain,” reads her post from July 20.
Ruqia Hassan’s execution marks the fifth journalist who had covered the Islamic State reported killed since October.
“IS always wants to keep the sword hovering over the people’s necks.”