Serena Shim - Wikipedia

Serena Shim (Arabic: سيرينا علي سحيم‎‎,[3]Serena Ali Suhaim;[3] October 10, 1985[citation needed] – October 19, 2014) was an American journalist for Press TV. While covering the Siege of Kobanê as a war correspondent, she was allegedly killed in a car crash. Her employer called the accident "suspicious" as she was killed two days after Turkey allegedly accused her of spying.[4]

After her education, she worked for a media company in Beirut. Shim covered reports for Press TV in Lebanon, Iraq, Ukraine and Turkey.[2][8]

Her death took place only days after she published a story detailing the said Turkish government use of humanitarian aid marked trucks to transport weapons and ammunition to ISIL-ISIS factions that opposed the Assad administration's government in Syria. It should be noted the there are other news sources detailing ISIL-ISIS exporting oil through Turkey as well. Turkey is also said to have accused Serena Shim of spying. There is some question as to if she was transported directly to the hospital on the day of the "accident." It has been said the reason given for not investigating her death is because the US government does not investigate the death of citizens in other countries, true or not.

Covering the siege of KobanêEdit

Istanbul

Ankara

Diyarbakır

Suruç

In October 2014, Shim was assigned by Press TV to Turkey on a mission to cover the ISIL conflict. She was based in Suruç, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey, which is a rural area near the Syrian border.[10][11]

Accusation of spying by TurkeyEdit

On October 17, Shim told Press TV that the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) had accused her of "spying".[11] She stated that it is "probably due to some of the stories she had covered about Turkey's stance on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants in Kobanê".[12] She had reported that ISIL militants being smuggled over the Turkish border into Syria on trucks bearing the symbols of NGOs like the "World Food Organisation". Shim, said on air she's "a bit frightened" by what MİT "might use against me."[4]

She died on 19 October 2014 in a car crash on her way back to her hotel. She was returning to Suruç with her driver and camera operator Judy Irish in a rental car when the car collided with a cement mixer.[12] Shim survived the crash, but died of a heart attack after being taken to an undisclosed location. Her co-worker Irish was injured and taken to Suruç State Hospital.[10][13]

The vehicle driver was subsequently arrested.[14]Press TV disputed this, alleging that both driver and vehicle "have disappeared" and her death is "suspicious".[11]

Şanlıurfa Governor İzzettin Küçük denied Press TV's claims and called them "completely baseless" and "attempts to put Turkey in a difficult situation".[12] Küçük said a detailed statement would be made after the investigations.[10]