UK photojournalist hanged self in Zimbabwe hotel

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By Lebo Nkatazo

THE family of an Irish photojournalist who hanged himself in Zimbabwe while working undercover for the London Times newspaper has said there will be no need for an enquiry after accepting he took his own life.

Richard Mills, an award winning Northern Ireland journalist was said by Zimbabwean authorities to have died of asphyxiation by hanging – an explanation initially rejected by his family.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Thursday that it had also withdrawn a call for an inquiry into Mills’ death in a hotel room on July 14.

“Having had the chance to examine in detail the circumstances surrounding Richard’s death we are now reconciled to the fact that he did indeed take his own life,” a statement released by the family said.

“We acknowledge that the amount of suffering and extreme hardship he witnessed at first hand in many harrowing situations throughout the world proved too much for him to bear.”

The family’s statement forced the IFJ to recoil from a statement issued earlier this week demanding that the South African government puts pressure on Zimbabwean authorities to launch a full investigation.

The IFJ said: “We share the deep suspicion of Richard Mills’ family over the circumstances of the death of this gifted colleague. It casts a fresh shadow over the crisis for democracy in Zimbabwe.”

The IFJ now admits its suspicions were misplaced.

IFJ Secretary General Adrian White said the organisation’s call for an enquiry was made in response to a request by the Mills family.

The 41-year-old renowned front-line lensman, who had worked on assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan had been due to leave Zimbabwe the day after he died.

A veteran of the Royal Air Force, Mills had been working in Zimbabwe undercover, a situation which made The Times cautious about reporting details of his death. The paper would not even disclose whether Mills had been working with a reporter, although it later emerged his body was found by Catherine Philp, The Times’ Diplomatic Correspondent who was covering the story in Zimbabwe with Mills.

Mills was laid to rest on Tuesday after a funeral service at Roselawn Cemetery in Belfast.
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