Introduction
Serena Shim (Arabic: سيرينا علي سحيم, Serena Ali Suhaim; October 10, 1985 – 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.
Personal background
Serena Shim, an American citizen of Lebanese origin, was born the daughter of Judith Poe and her Lebanese father around 1985. She was raised in Dearborn and Livonia and her family lived in Detroit, Michigan, United States. As a child, she attended Lowrey Elementary School in Dearborn and later went to Clarenceville High School in Livonia. She attended college at the American University of Science and Technology, Beirut, Lebanon. She was married to Ibrihim Shim and the couple had a son and a daughter.
Shim was 29 years old when she was killed in Turkey. Her funeral ceremony was held on October 22 in a hussainia in Bourj el-Barajneh before she was buried in a cemetery in the same district. A memorial service was held in Dearborn.
Career
After her education, she worked for a media company in Beirut. Shim covered reports for Press TV in Lebanon, Iraq, Ukraine and Turkey.
Her death took place 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. 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.
Context
Covering the siege of Kobanê
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.
Accusation of spying by Turkey
On October 17, Shim told Press TV that the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) had accused her of "spying". 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". She had reported that ISIL militants were 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."
Death
She died on October 19, 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. 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.
The vehicle driver was subsequently arrested. Press TV disputed this, alleging that both driver and vehicle "have disappeared" and her death is "suspicious".
Reactions
Şanlıurfa Governor İzzettin Küçük denied Press TV's claims and called them "completely baseless" and "attempts to put Turkey in a difficult situation". Küçük said a detailed statement would be made after the investigations.