Hadi al-Mahdi

Hadi al-Mahdi (ca. 1965– 8 September 2011) was an Iraqi freelance journalist and radio talk show host of To Whoever Listens, which was broadcast by Radio Demozy (104.01 FM) out of Baghdad Iraq. He was assassinated in his home.

While al-Mahdi was one of 95 journalists killed in the last ten years, his death was widely noted in the intellectual community of Iraq. According to The New York Times story after his death, "perhaps none of the (other) killings (of Iraqi journalists) has resonated so deeply in a nook of society that welcomed war with such eagerness."

The New York Times, which wrote a profile on him one year before he was killed, compared him to Rush Limbaugh in his visibility and impact: "arguably the most breathtaking exercise of free speech in a place where its limits are still being established. It is, by some accounts, one of the most popular programs on the air in Baghdad. It is, without question, immensely entertaining."

Career Mahdi attended Iraq's Academy of Fine Arts in 1989. After his studies, Mahdi took refuge in Syria and from there Sweden. He returned to Iraq in 2007 after 18 years. In Iraq, he hosted the radio show To Whoever listens for Radio Demozy, an independent station, a year later. After the protest in February he was arrested and detailed for several hours. He continued organizing protests until his death. He assumed a visible role as a leader of protests.

Reactions In The New York Times, the Committee to Protect Journalists said that 95 journalists had been murdered since 2001 without any convictions.

Personal Hadi al-Mahdi had a wife and three children, who have all survived him.