Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government files suit against broadcaster NRT for protest coverage
New York, August 24, 2020 — The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government yesterday announced a lawsuit against local broadcaster NRT in response to its coverage of recent protests in the region, according to a statement sent to CPJ via email today by Dindar Zebari, the regional government’s coordinator for international advocacy. “The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government’s…
Iraqi Kurdish authorities shutter NRT offices in Erbil and Duhok; 1 journalist still held
Washington, D.C., August 20, 2020 – Iraqi Kurdish authorities should cease harassing broadcaster NRT, release journalist Ahmed Zakhoy without charge, and allow the outlet to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, agents of the Asayish intelligence agency, affiliated with the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, raided NRT’s office in the western city…
Iraqi Kurdish security forces raid broadcaster, detain and beat journalists, seize equipment
New York, August 14, 2020 – Iraqi Kurdish authorities must cease harassing local news outlets, return journalists’ equipment they have seized, and let reporters cover protests freely and without fear of assault or detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 12, Iraqi Kurdish Asayish security forces raided the offices of local broadcaster…
Iraqi federal police detain Kurdish broadcasting crews on assignment in Kirkuk
On August 2, 2020, Iraqi federal police officers detained two TV crews with Kurdish broadcasters Kurdistan 24 (K24) and NRT, seized their equipment, and destroyed a camera while the reporters were on assignment near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, according to K24 reporter Soran Kamaran, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, an account…
Iraqi Kurdish authorities file complaint against journalist for COVID-19 criticism
On July 22, 2020, the attorney general’s office of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq filed a complaint against Kurdish journalist Rebwar Kerim Wali, alleging he violated the 2008 Law on Misuse of Communication Devices, according to news reports, a statement by a government spokesperson, which CPJ reviewed, and Wali, who spoke to CPJ…
Kurdish Iraqi security forces arrest freelance photojournalist Qaraman Shukri at his home in northwestern Kurdistan
New York, July 8, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern over the arrest by Iraqi Kurdish security forces of freelance photojournalist Qaraman Shukri. On June 27, officers with the Kurdish Asayish security force arrested Shukri, a freelance contributor to pro-Kurdistan People’s Party (PKK) news website RojNews and the broadcaster KNN, which…
Iraqi Kurdistan attorney general calls for closure of NRT broadcaster
New York, June 22, 2020 — Authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan should allow the NRT broadcaster to cover the news freely and without official harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 15, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s attorney general’s office sent a letter to the Iraqi Culture Ministry calling for the closure of NRT’s…
Iraqi security forces harass 3 journalists in Kirkuk; Kurdish Iraqi police detain 1 over defamation lawsuit in Erbil
On June 9, 2020, Iraqi security forces in the northeastern Iraqi city of Kirkuk prevented Azad Shakur, a reporter for the Kurdish Iraqi broadcaster Gali Kurdistan, and Diyar Mohammed, a reporter for the Kurdish Iraqi broadcaster NRT, from reaching their workplaces and threatened to break the camera of Hazhar Rasheed, a reporter for Shafaq News…
Journalists assaulted, detained while covering COVID-19 protest in Iraqi Kurdistan
On June 2, 2020, Iraqi Kurdish security forces assaulted at least four journalists and detained two others who were covering protests against the COVID-19 restrictions in the northeastern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, according to news reports and a report by the Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy, a local press freedom group. During a…