Bosnian prisoner praises ITN crew

Footage of Fikret Alic in the camp shocked the world

The emaciated Bosnian man whose image was at the centre of a libel dispute between ITN and Living Marxism has praised the TV crew for their coverage.

Muslim Fikret Alic paid tribute to ITN reporter Penny Marshall. He also expressed his gratitude to the TV crew who had filmed the Serb-run Trnopolje camp where he and hundreds of others were held captive in August 1992.

"Until Penny arrived, no one knew around the world what had happened and that we were all prisoners," he told ITN through an interpreter.

Ms Marshall and her colleague Ian Williams were each awarded £150,000 by the High Court on Tuesday, following a successful libel action against Living Marxism. The magazine ran a story questioning the veracity of the coverage.

But Mr Alic added that after the camera crew left, conditions at the camp deteriorated further.

"Our lives changed a lot," he said. "I would like to say that behind the cameramen there were Serb soldiers and they shouted to write everybody's names who said something in front of the camera.

He went on: "At the time they didn't know why they were saying that but the camera crew left and they started killings."

He added: "Justice is in The Hague. I wouldn't like something like that to happen anywhere in the world."