Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the release of hostages by Russia, including Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal and Alsu Kurmasheva of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. But it has stressed that: “Neither should have spent a single day in a Russian prison for doing their job … we emphasise that journalists are not targets and must not be used as political pawns in this way.”
I became acutely aware of this issue in the early 1990s when I worked at UK broadcaster ITN, alongside Jill Morrell. Morrell’s boyfriend, John McCarthy, a fellow journalist was held hostage in Lebanon for five years after being taken in Beirut in April 1986 while working as a producer for Worldwide Television News.
While Morrell was busy enough in her day job, she also fielded constant phone calls from the Foreign Office, lawyers, go-betweens, campaigners and advisers. The prime minister for most of this time was Margaret Thatcher who was vocal in upholding a policy of “no negotiations with terrorists”. Progress in securing McCarthy’s release was therefore glacial, but Morrell and her campaign kept the fires burning and he was eventually released in August 1991.
