Journalists Killed in 2017 - Motive Confirmed: Stephane Villeneuve
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 31 December 2017 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Killed in 2017 - Motive Confirmed: Stephane Villeneuve, 31 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a4e33934.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
#5BisProduction | Killed in Mosul, Iraq | June 19, 2017
| Job: | Camera Operator |
| Medium: | Television, Internet |
| Beats Covered: | War |
| Gender: | Male |
| Local or Foreign: | Foreign |
| Freelance: | Yes |
| Type of Death: | Crossfire |
| Suspected Source of Fire: | Political Group |
| Impunity: | |
| Taken Captive: | |
| Tortured: | |
| Threatened: | |
French cameraman Stephane Villeneuve was killed, along with Iraqi fixer Bakhtiyar Haddad and Veronique Robert as they covered Iraqi soldiers' efforts to retake control of the old city of Mosul, according to news reports.
Villeneuve was embedded with elite Iraqi soldiers, traveling on foot through Mosul when an improvised explosive device exploded, news reports said. Alex Kay Potter – a nurse who was on the initial treatment team and who acts as director of communications for Global Response Management (GRM), an international nonprofit that provides medical care on the frontlines of conflicts – told CPJ that Haddad, Forey, Villeneuve, and Robert were initially treated at a trauma stabilization point run by GRM and Iraqi Special Operations Forces. Villeneuve, Robert, and Forey were then transported to a nearby military medical facility for further treatment, Potter said.
Villeneuve and his colleagues were then flown to a medical facility in Al-Qayyara, some 76 kilometers (47 miles) south of Mosul, and then to Baghdad for further treatment. Villeneuve died of his injuries hours later, according to news reports and the Metro Center for Journalists' Rights, a northern Iraqi press freedom group.
Villeneuve was an experienced conflict journalist. He covered the wars in Syria, Iraq, and Libya for French media including France 24, Canal+, and BFM video. At the time of his death, Stephan was filming a report for the French public TV station France 2.
