LONDON: Journalists at Italy’s news agency Nova have condemned death threats they received days after one of their colleagues was dismissed following a question about whether Israel should pay for Gaza’s reconstruction.
Gabriele Nunziati, a Brussels-based correspondent covering the EU for Rome’s Nova, was let go late last month after he questioned European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho about Israel’s responsibility for rebuilding Gaza.
The story, first reported by Italian news website Fanpage on Tuesday, quickly spread through national and international media, prompting accusations that the agency was suppressing freedom of speech.
In a statement to Arab News on Thursday, Nunziati’s former colleagues revealed they had been the target of intimidation and death threats since the incident became public.
“We journalists of Agenzia Nova are saddened by the situation of our colleague Gabriele Nunziati. However, we want to express our views. To defend ourselves from the gratuitous and unfounded attacks in recent days, from threats, insults. We do not accept them,” said the journalists in a letter.
