Roddy Scott

Roddy Scott was a British freelance cameraman who documented neglected conflicts in such places as Sierra Leone, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,361787,00.html Milestones] , "TIME", Oct. 07, 2002] He derived the bulk of his income from updating a guide to war and traveled widely in his freelance journalism, usually career without sponsors or payment. He died in Russia while working for Britain's Frontline Television News.

Journalism and death

On September 26, 2002, Scott was killed in the Russian republic of Ingushetia. Russian soldiers found his body in Ingushetia's Galashki region, near the border with the war-torn republic of Chechnya, following a fierce battle between Russian forces and a group of Chechen rebel fighters in which at least 17 were killed and a Russian helicopter was shot down. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2283051.stm Briton killed in Chechen rebel skirmish] BBC News, 26 September, 2002] Scott had accompanied the Chechens from Ruslan Gelayev's unit as they crossed from Georgia into Russia and was apparently was killed by a bullet in the eyepiece of his camera while filming the firefight, United Press International reported. According to Kavkaz Center, however, he was killed alone while trying to surrender. [ [http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2002/10/42663.html British reporter shot after he surrendered to Russians] , Kavkaz Center, 9-29-2002] At first, the Kremlin officials said Scott might still be alive. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2285566.stm Confusion over cameraman's 'death'] BBC News, 27 September, 2002]

Scott was instrumental in updating Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places' fourth edition and his primary source of income came from assisting Pelton in covering areas like Kurdistan, Albania and other areas they traveled. Pelton investigated the circumstances of his friend's contributor's death and determined that Roddy indeed tried to surrender but was shot in the face by a Russian sniper while waving an improvised white flag borrowed from a local. According to Pelton, the Russian government later tried to extort Scott's family, branding him as a "terrorist" and refusing to return the body or issue a death certificate unless money was paid. Pelton arranged with CNN's Moscow bureau Jill Dougherty to run a lengthy profile on Scott's career as a journalist to counter the Russian propaganda. Meanwhile, Scott's family solved the body extortion by simply demanding that in the British tradition, he should be buried where he fell. [ The information is gathered along with obituaries at the Pelton's website [http://www.comebackalive.com/ ComeBackAlive.com] ]

Roddy Scott's father, Robin, writing to "The Times", said his son had chosen to travel with the Chechens in order to remedy the sparse media reporting of a conflict: "Whether it was Kurds, Chechens, Afghans or Palestinians, he was committed to ensuring that issues were not sidelined and received the international attention that they deserved." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2285846.stm Family fear cameraman is dead] , BBC News, 28 September, 2002]

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2290739.stm Killed reporter's Chechen rebel pictures] , BBC News, 1 October, 2002
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article138844.ece Obituaries: Roddy Scott Single-minded television journalist killed on a story] , "The Independent", 4 October 2002
*(Photo) [http://www.flickr.com/photos/8466772@N04/511926811/ Perhaps the last photograph of Roddy Scott]