On January 31, 2025, a criminal court in Iraqi Kurdistan sentenced journalist Omed Baroshky, the former director of now-defunct Rast Media, to six months in prison on defamation charges over a Facebook post he published in early 2024. He was initially due to be released on July 31, according to his lawyer, but authorities have extended his detention for another six months.
Baroshky’s attorney, Reving Yaseen, told CPJ that charges stemmed from a January 23, 2024, post in which the journalist alleged that political prisoner Mala Nazir had been “kidnapped” by security forces from Zirka prison, in northern Iraq’s Duhok province, and transferred to an unknown location a day before his scheduled release. The post circulated widely in local media before prison authorities filed a lawsuit under Article 2 of the Misuse of Communication Devices law.
The court rejected the defense’s argument that Baroshky should be protected under the Kurdistan Region’s press law, which prohibits jailing journalists for their work, his lawyer said.
“The court acknowledged that the prisoner had been transferred but claimed that Omed defamed the prison by calling it a kidnapping,” Yaseen said.
On July 30, 2025, a Duhok misdemeanor court extended Baroshky’s imprisonment by six months, citing his alleged breach of a suspended 2021 conviction, which stipulated that if he committed any offense within three years, he must serve an additional six months in prison. He will now remain behind bars until early 2026.
Baroshky has faced repeated legal consequences for his reporting. Between 2020 and 2022, he served 18 months in prison under the same law for social media posts critical of Kurdish authorities. After his news outlet Rast Media wasshut down by authorities in 2023, he continued his reporting on Facebook.
CPJ reached out to Aram Atrushi, the director of Zirka prison where Baroshky is held, for comment on both the original sentence and its extension but did not receive a response.