MESOP NEWS RESULTS : NO FREE PRESS IN KURDISTAN (IRAQ)?

230 journalists affected by violations in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2017: report

SULAIMANI,  14. Jan 2018 – Iraqi Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate said it recorded 137 cases of different types of violations against 230 journalists in the Kurdistan region in 2017.

Committee to defense freedom of journalism and rights of journalists from the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate released 2017 report of violations against journalists in the Kurdistan region during a press conference on Thursday (January 11).There were three attempts to assassinate four journalists last year, the syndicate’s committee said. Two journalists were killed and another one committed suicide in the Kurdistan region.

It added that 30 journalists were arrested and five others were wounded.Another 39 journalist were beaten and 111 others were banned from coverage in 2017, the report said. Some 19 journalists also received threats.

“There were two cases of torching [stations] and five cases of looting,” the report read.The syndicate also recorded 47 cases of violations against NRT channels.

“The number of the violations has increased in the Kurdistan region. The increase is also a serious question in front of the region’s officials. Whenever the political conflicts severed, more violations will be carried out against journalists,” said Azad Hama Amin, head of the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate. The syndicate recorded 45 cases of nine types of violations against 80 journalists during 2016. www.mesop.de