SHAUN SMILLIE
THERE is a hill about 5km from the eastern Libyan town of Brega. Find that hill and you will locate the spot where Anton Hammerl died, says Clare Morgana Gillis.
Gillis says she would recognise the area if she saw it again, but because of the one-year suspended sentence the Libyan government has imposed on her, travelling back to Libya would be dangerous.
However, the US journalist, who was taken into captivity on April 5, moments after she witnessed Hammerl being gunned down, has given a detailed description of the incident to Human Rights Watch.
She said she understood that the information had been passed on to the South African government and hoped that it might help to locate Hammerl’s body.
President Jacob Zuma was due to visit Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi today. It is reported that he will try to make arrangements for the recovery and repatriation of Hammerl’s remains.
Last night, Gillis said that if someone had to visit the site where Hammerl was believed to have been killed and was able to send back an image of it, she could help.
“My idea is that if someone had a satellite link-up and sent video footage directly to me, I would definitely recognise the site,” she said.
Hammerl’s friends and family have set up a trust fund in the names of Hammerl’s three young children.
To make a donation, visit www.freeanton.org or e-mail [email protected] or contact the administrators of the Free Anton Facebook page.