Iraqi Asayish forces obstruct 2 media crews covering Erbil protest
On April 26, 2022, forces with the Asayish intelligence agency harassed and obstructed two news crews covering a protest at a U.N. office in the northern Iraqi-Kurdish city of Erbil, according to news reports and journalists who spoke with CPJ. Protesters gathered at the U.N. building to demonstrate against Turkish military operations in the region,…
Iraqi Kurdish journalist Omed Baroshky: Press freedom ‘an illusion’ in the region
Freelance journalist Omed Baroshky spent 18 months in jail over social media posts that were critical of the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan. One of four Iraqi Kurdish reporters listed in CPJ’s 2021 prison census, his incarceration marked yet another low point for a region that has seen a sharp deterioration in the environment for the…
Iraqi Kurdish security forces raid, close office of news website Gav News in Duhok
New York, November 16, 2021 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the raid and closure by Iraqi Kurdish security forces of the Duhok office of the news website Gav News and called on Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq to allow the staff to return to its office and ensure that members of the…
Iraqi Kurdish court extends journalist Omed Baroshky’s prison sentence by 1 year
New York, September 23, 2021 — In response to an Erbil court’s ruling today to extend the imprisonment of Iraqi Kurdish journalist Omed Baroshky by one year, the Committee to Protect Journalists has called on authorities drop the charges against him and end harassment of reporters. “Today’s sentencing of freelance journalist Omed Baroshky to an…
Iraqi Kurdish court sentences photojournalist Qaraman Shukri to 7 years in prison in secret trial
New York, June 28, 2021 — In response to the sentencing of Iraqi Kurdish photojournalist Qaraman Shukri to seven years in prison in a secret trial, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq are making an appalling habit of sentencing journalists to prison without any regard for due…
Iraqi Kurdish court upholds 6-year jail terms for journalists Sherwan Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari
New York, May 6, 2021 — In response to the Erbil Court of Cassation’s recent decision to uphold the six-year jail sentences of Iraqi Kurdish journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “With the Erbil Court of Cassation’s decision to uphold the six-year jail sentences of…
Iraqi Kurdish authorities question Assyrian National Broadcasting manager, shutter outlet
In October 2020, a captain with the Iraqi Kurdish Asayish security forces ordered the closure of the Erbil office of Assyrian National Broadcasting (ANB), according to a statement by the Assyrian Policy Institute, a local rights group, and ANB’s Erbil office manager, William Bnyameen Adam Khlapieel, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. ANB, a…
‘Spaghetti against the wall’: how flimsy evidence sent 2 Iraqi Kurdish journalists to jail for 6 years
The case against Iraqi Kurdish journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari was built on flimsy and circumstantial evidence, five observers of the journalists’ Erbil trial last month told CPJ. Their six-year prison sentences on anti-state charges represent a new low for press freedom in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to rights groups representatives, journalists, and an Iraqi Kurdish…
Iraqi Kurdish court sentences journalists Sherwan Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari to 6 years in jail
New York, February 16, 2021 – In response to today’s sentencing of Iraqi Kurdish freelance journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari to six years each in jail, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Today’s sentencing of journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari is not only unfair and disproportionate, but it…
Iraqi Kurdish security forces arrest photojournalist Qaraman Shukri
New York, February 1, 2021 – Iraqi Kurdish security forces should immediately release photojournalist Qaraman Shukri and cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 8:30 a.m. on January 27, Asayish security forces affiliated with Iraqi Kurdistan’s ruling Democratic Party of Kurdistan arrested Shukri at his home in…