Hadi al-Mahdi, a radio show host and activist in Iraq, was killed in his home on Thursday, according to international news reports.

Al-Mahdi hosted a thrice-weekly show called “To Whoever Listens” in which he criticized the government and the lack of public services, the Washington Post and others reported.  The outspoken activist stopped hosting the programme two months ago because he had received repeated death threats and was afraid for his life, but continued to attend and help organise weekly Friday protests in Baghdad that called for better services, an end to corruption and more democracy.

In Feburary, al-Mahdi was one of four journalists abducted by Iraqi soldiers following a major “Day of Rage” protest. He “was blindfolded, doused in water and subjected to electric shocks while music played in the background” during the several days he remained in captivity, the Associated Press said.

Hadi al-Mahdi is the ninth journalist to be killed in Iraq this year, according to the IPI Death Watch.

“It would be a tragedy if the person who killed Hadi al-Mahdi, who fought so hard for justice in Iraq, would himself escape punishment for this murder,” said IPI Director Alison Bethel McKenzie. “Until the Iraq government ends impunity for those who kill journalists, violence and corruption will continue.”