STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Family of Anton Hammerl say they now believe he was killed by Gadhafi’s forces
- Reports: Two American journalists just released by Libya say they were there when Hammerl was shot
- The South African government says it presumes that Hammerl has been killed
- Family statement: “It is intolerably cruel that Gaddafi loyalists have known Anton’s fate all along”
(CNN) — The family of South African freelance photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who has been missing in Libya since April, said late Thursday they now believe he was killed by Libyan government forces.
The statement was posted on the “Free photographer Anton Hammerl” Facebook page and follows interviews given in The New York Times, Global Post and The Atlantic by two journalists who say they were with him at the time he was shot.
“On 5 April 2011, Anton was shot by Gaddafi’s forces in an extremely remote location in the Libyan desert. According to eyewitnesses, his injuries were such that he could not have survived without medical attention,” according to the Facebook statement.
Hammerl was last reportedly seen in a remote region of the Libyan desert. He was reportedly captured by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi near the town of al-Brega, a key oil town in eastern Libya, that has been the site of intense fighting.
“From the moment Anton disappeared in Libya we have lived in hope as the Libyan officials assured us that they had Anton,” the statement said. “It is intolerably cruel that Gaddafi loyalists have known Anton’s fate all along and chose to cover it up.”
The South African government, which had been seeking answers from the Libyan government to Hammerl’s whereabouts, presumes Hammerl has been killed in Libya, spokesman Clayson Monyela said Friday.
CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh, Nkepile Mabuse and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.
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Family: Photographer missing in Libya now believed dead