The Iraqi authorities announced today the liberation of the German activist Hella Mavis, who was kidnapped on Monday evening from a street in the capital, Baghdad.
The spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, Major General Yahya Rasoul, said the kidnapped had been freed by an intelligence operation, without giving further details.
On the other hand, sources at the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq said today, Friday, that an investigation is underway regarding this incident and will announce its results when the procedures are completed.
Unidentified gunmen kidnapped - on Monday evening - Mayvis, director of the cultural department at the German Goethe Institute in Baghdad, from a street in the Iraqi capital.
Activists on social media circulated then a video clip that they said shows the moment of the kidnapping of the German activist Hella Mavis from Abu Nawas Street in the Karrada district in the center of the Iraqi capital Monday evening.
العراق # Iraq - Video clip documenting the moment of the kidnapping of the German activist # Hila_Mios last night in Baghdad. pic.twitter.com/Qmqg8qICMI
- Maan Habib - Maan Habib (@MHabibAhi) July 21, 2020
The video shows a civilian car from which several people descend and intercept Meeves road before hijacking it, placing it inside the car, and heading to an unknown destination.
Since the beginning of this year, two French journalists have been kidnapped for several days, in addition to three human rights workers, who were released after two months of detention after being kidnapped with an Iraqi in the Karrada neighborhood itself.
Since the protests began last October, scores of activists have been assassinated or kidnapped, some of whom are still missing.
Recently, the Iraqi researcher Hisham Al-Hashimi was assassinated by gunmen in front of his house in Baghdad.
A friend of Myvis confirmed that the German activist had expressed her concern since the assassination of Al-Hashemi, as he was supporting the cause of the demonstrators. "We spoke last week, and she was worried after the assassination, because she was active during the protests," Zekra Sarsam said.