Sean Langan
Encyclopedia
Sean Langan is a British journalist and documentary film-maker. Langan works in dangerous and volatile situations; including environments noted for war, conflict and civil unrest. In 2008 he was kidnapped along with his translator while filming in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. They were freed three months later after Langan's family had negotiated their release.
's "Dispatches
" television series when he was abducted on March by the Taliban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, was "safe and well" after release on 21 June 2008 in Islamabad
, Pakistan.
Langan was held hostage by the Taliban for 12 weeks after trying to make contact with Al-Qaeda
’s second in command, as he searched for associates of Osama bin Laden
. Langan stated he believed Channel 4
paid "compensation
" to those who held him for his release. In his first broadcast interview since the release, Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow
asked whether a ransom
had been paid. Langan replied: "No. I think a bit of compensation, not to the Taliban, but to some of the people in the house I believe, but I don't know." Channel 4's position was: “This was a very complex and delicate negotiation and Channel 4 provided Sean’s family with support and expert advice. We don’t think it is appropriate to go into the detail of the dialogue that was necessary to secure Sean’s release. We shared information with the Foreign Office throughout this process.” Channel 4 paid a £150,000 ransom
to secure the release of Langanan through hired well-connected Afghan
journalists as go-between (who delivered a briefcase full of cash to their kidnappers).
After suffering mock executions, Langan and his translator Sammy were freed and sent back to Britain: “I thought it would be a miracle if I got out of there alive. Death was at my door every night. It makes you see your life like never before. It was a constant barrage. They could hear machine guns, anti-aircraft guns and rocket-propelled grenades going off the whole time. But they weren’t being shot in a contact [firefight] – it sounded like training. The door would be kicked in in the middle of the night and they'd tell the translator that they were going to behead us.'” He lost 3 stone due to dysentery
at a Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) mountain. Imprisoned in a small, darkened basement cell, which had a hole in the ground for a toilet, they were brought 2 meals a day of bread and “stringy” meat.
The Foreign Office was "furious
" at the ransom of Langan, for it "will increase the risk of Britons being kidnapped in future." Tory MP Philip Davies
said: 'I don't believe in basically caving in to kidnappers in any way, shape or form. It creates a more unsafe environment for everyone. It is just encouraging them to do this to other people. If they did ignore Foreign Office advice given to them then it was wholly irresponsible.' Tory MP David Davies
, also, said: 'I can see why Channel 4 felt this obligation and why people do pay ransoms to release valued employees or loved family members. The trouble is stepping back and looking at this from a distance. It almost certainly will lead to further kidnaps taking place.'
The ordeal, ransom and criticisms
Bafta nominee Sean Langan, 43, who was working for Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's "Dispatches
Dispatches (TV series)
Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, usually featuring a mole in an organisation.-Awards:*...
" television series when he was abducted on March by the Taliban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, was "safe and well" after release on 21 June 2008 in Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Pakistan.
Langan was held hostage by the Taliban for 12 weeks after trying to make contact with Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
’s second in command, as he searched for associates of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
. Langan stated he believed Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
paid "compensation
Payment
A payment is the transfer of wealth from one party to another. A payment is usually made in exchange for the provision of goods, services or both, or to fulfill a legal obligation....
" to those who held him for his release. In his first broadcast interview since the release, Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow
Jon Snow
Jon Snow is an English journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News.He was Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008.-Early life:...
asked whether a ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
had been paid. Langan replied: "No. I think a bit of compensation, not to the Taliban, but to some of the people in the house I believe, but I don't know." Channel 4's position was: “This was a very complex and delicate negotiation and Channel 4 provided Sean’s family with support and expert advice. We don’t think it is appropriate to go into the detail of the dialogue that was necessary to secure Sean’s release. We shared information with the Foreign Office throughout this process.” Channel 4 paid a £150,000 ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
to secure the release of Langanan through hired well-connected Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
journalists as go-between (who delivered a briefcase full of cash to their kidnappers).
After suffering mock executions, Langan and his translator Sammy were freed and sent back to Britain: “I thought it would be a miracle if I got out of there alive. Death was at my door every night. It makes you see your life like never before. It was a constant barrage. They could hear machine guns, anti-aircraft guns and rocket-propelled grenades going off the whole time. But they weren’t being shot in a contact [firefight] – it sounded like training. The door would be kicked in in the middle of the night and they'd tell the translator that they were going to behead us.'” He lost 3 stone due to dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
at a Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) mountain. Imprisoned in a small, darkened basement cell, which had a hole in the ground for a toilet, they were brought 2 meals a day of bread and “stringy” meat.
The Foreign Office was "furious
Furious
Furious is the debut album of Soopa Villainz released in 2005. The album peaked at #9 on the Billboard "Top Independent Albums" chart, #42 on the "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" chart and #92 on the Billboard 200.-Track listing:...
" at the ransom of Langan, for it "will increase the risk of Britons being kidnapped in future." Tory MP Philip Davies
Philip Davies
Philip Andrew Davies is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Shipley in West Yorkshire.-Early life:...
said: 'I don't believe in basically caving in to kidnappers in any way, shape or form. It creates a more unsafe environment for everyone. It is just encouraging them to do this to other people. If they did ignore Foreign Office advice given to them then it was wholly irresponsible.' Tory MP David Davies
David Davies
-Politics:*David Davies , also known as David Davies Llandinam, MP for Cardigan, 1874–1885, and Cardiganshire, 1885–1886*David Sanders Davies , Liberal politician, MP for Denbigh 1918–1922...
, also, said: 'I can see why Channel 4 felt this obligation and why people do pay ransoms to release valued employees or loved family members. The trouble is stepping back and looking at this from a distance. It almost certainly will lead to further kidnaps taking place.'
Films
- African Railway (2010) - BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
/ BBC FourBBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable.... - Fighting The Taliban (2007) – Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
- Meeting The Taliban (2007) – Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
- Afghan Ladies' Driving School (2006) – BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
/ BBC FourBBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable.... - Mission Accomplished (2004) – BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
/ BBC FourBBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable.... - Travels With A Gringo (2003) – Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
- Langan In Zimbabwe (2002) – BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
/ BBC FourBBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable.... - Langan Behind The Lines (2001) – BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
- Nightmare In Paradise (1998) – BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
Awards
- Fighting the Taliban won the 2007 Rory Peck AwardRory Peck AwardThe Rory Peck Award is an award given to freelance camera operators who have risked their lives to report on newsworthy events. It was set up in 1995 and is named after the Northern Irish freelance cameraman Rory Peck, who was killed while reporting on the siege of the Moscow White House in 1993....
for Features. - Mission Accomplished was short-listed for an International Documentary Association (IDA) International Documentary Award for a feature documentary (2005) and a Rory Peck Award.
- Mission Accomplished was also voted one of the top ten Documentaries in the world in 2005 by the International Documentary AssociationInternational Documentary AssociationInternational Documentary Association , founded in 1982, is a non-profit organization promoting documentary film, video and new media, to support the efforts of documentary filmmaking and video production makers around the world and to increase public appreciation and demand for the art of the...
. - Langan Behind the Lines was short-listed for a BAFTA, a Grierson Award; from the Grierson Documentary Film Awards which were established in memory of pioneering documentary film-maker John GriersonJohn GriersonJohn Grierson was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. According to popular myth, in 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" to describe a non-fiction film.-Early life:Grierson was born in Deanston, near Doune, Scotland...
, and a One World Media Award from the One World Broadcasting TrustOne World Broadcasting TrustOne World Media is a non-profit organisation, registered in the the UK as a charitable trust. Its current director is Marion Bowman. The charity promotes media that contributes to global dialogue and understanding, human rights and development, mobilising a global media community that shares the...
.
See also
- Documentary filmDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
- Cinéma véritéCinéma véritéCinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
- Lists of directors and producers of documentaries
External links
- Official website for Sean Langan
- BBC4 on Langan's work in Iraq
- BBC4 on Langan's work in Afghanistan
- BAFTA: the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
- The International Documentary Association: the mission of the International Documentary Association is to promote non-fiction film and video around the world