Maria Grazia Cutuli

Maria Grazia Cutuli (26 October 1962 – 19 November 2001) was an Italian journalist who worked as a reporter with the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. She was killed while on assignment in Afghanistan where she was covering the US military invasion following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. She was murdered between Jalalabad and Kabul with three other journalists. Cutuli was the first female and first Italian journalist to be killed during the War in Afghanistan in 2001. She studied philosophy and graduated from the University of Catania. After her murder in Afghanistan, she was elevated to "Special Correspondent" by Corriere della Sera. Her autopsy revealed that she had died from 4 gun shot wounds to the back and it confirmed her earlobe had been cut off, which was done by her murderer for jewellery. Before she was killed, Cutuli was raped by the later convicted murderer Reza Khan. That story was filed earlier but reported on the discovery of a chemical factory that posed a threat during the war.

Legal proceedings Reza Khan testified that the Taliban ordered the murder of journalists. Other independent sources at the time implicated the Taliban.

In 2004 Reza Khan was convicted in Kabul for the murders and also rape, as well as additional crimes against Afghan nationals. He was sentenced to death in November 2004. Khan was executed by gunfire in October 2007 at the same time that 14 others were executed, including the convicted murderers of her colleagues.

Impact Maria Grazia Cutuli became a hero in Italy after her murder. The Cutuli Onlus Foundation was formed in March 2008 in her birth city of Catania.

Reactions Among those who reacted to the murder of Cutuli was the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.