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…
Protesters storm Baghdad office of Saudi broadcaster MBC
New York, May 19, 2020 — Iraq authorities should conduct a transparent and speedy investigation into the ransacking of the Baghdad office of the Saudi broadcaster MBC and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Security forces in Iraqi Kurdistan detain 8 journalists in Duhok covering protest; charge 4
New York, May 18, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the detention of at least eight Kurdish Iraqi journalists covering a protest in Duhok on May 16 and called on the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan to drop all charges pending against four of them.
Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan tell CPJ of obstruction and opportunities covering COVID-19
On May 10, Saman Barzinji, the health minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government, announced that the COVID-19 pandemic no longer posed a threat to the region, and that the area would gradually reopen, according to news reports.
Iraqi reporter Ali al-Haj threatened over reporting
On April 16, 2020, a person who described themselves as the Sheikh of the Al-Mayah tribe texted Ali al-Haj, a reporter for the Iraqi broadcaster Al-Sharqiyya in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, demanding he stop his reporting and threatened him, according to al-Haj, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app.
Kurdish Iraqi journalist receives anonymous threats over coverage
Since March 19, 2020, unidentified individuals have threatened Kurdish Iraqi freelance journalist Amanj Warte, who contributes to the broadcaster KNN and the news website Sbeiy, after he published an article in Sbeiy on March 18 about alleged plans for a Turkish military outpost in Kurdish Iraqi territory, according to Warte, who spoke to CPJ via…
Iraqi security forces beat journalist Mohamed Kader al-Samarrai at COVID-19 checkpoint
On March 31, 2020, two officers of the Iraqi Police Sixth Emergency Regiment assaulted Mohamed Kader al-Samarrai, director of the local broadcaster Al-Maliyah TV, after stopping him at a checkpoint to enforce the country’s COVID-19 curfew, according to a Facebook post by al-Samarrai and reports by the National Union of Journalists in Iraq and the…
Iraqi regulator suspends Reuters’ license for 3 months over COVID-19 report
New York, April 3, 2020 — Iraqi authorities should immediately reinstate the license of the Reuters news agency, and allow all media outlets to cover the COVID-19 pandemic freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.