A spree of attacks and threats against media outlets in Iraq has alarmed the UN, journalists and monitors, who demand the government prevent the “silencing” of journalists covering mass protests.
Raids over the weekend carried out by unidentified gunmen have added to concerns for freedom of expression that were first flagged when authorities implemented a near-total Internet blackout after anti-government protests erupted last week in the capital and the country’s south.
On Saturday evening, the Baghdad bureaus of Kurdistan-based NRT TV, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya and local Al-Dijla news channels were raided by masked men, the stations said.
NRT TV said the gunmen damaged equipment, which temporarily put the channel off the air, seized employees’ phones and attacked local police.
Security camera footage aired by Al-Arabiya showed about a dozen men in tactical gear and helmets entering the bureau, ripping screens off walls and rummaging through drawers.
Al-Arabiya said it had received “assurances” from Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi’s office that the incident would be investigated.
Iraqi President Barham Saleh condemned the attacks as “unacceptable.”
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, said she was “shocked at the vandalism [and] intimidation.”
“Government efforts [are] required to protect journalists. Free media is the best safeguard of a strong democracy,” she said.
A security source told reporters that another local channel, Al-Nahrein, had also been raided and its equipment damaged, and that Hona Baghdad and Al-Rasheed had received threats.
“We received direct threats over our coverage of the protests,” said a journalist at Al-Rasheed, which has closely covered protests and accused security forces of indiscriminate violence.
“They told us: ‘Either you change your editorial line or you’ll have the same fate as NRT and the rest.’ So we preferred to cut our distribution,” the reporter said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Throughout the week, bloggers and activists across the south also reported receiving text messages and phone calls threatening them and their families over their coverage.
“Coverage of demonstrations is very difficult and different from the usual coverage of events, because the crackdown on protesters automatically affects the journalists,” Dijlah TV’s Mazen Alwan told Iraq’s National Union of Journalists.
Various media outlets also took confidential measures to ensure the safety of their teams.
Iraq is ranked 156th out of 180 countries on this year’s World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The media watchdog accused security forces of “disproportionate and unwarranted restriction of the right to inform.”
“Instead of banning all journalistic activities, the security forces and local authorities have a duty to guarantee the safety of journalists so that they can do their reporting,” said Sabrina Bennoui, RSF’s Middle East desk head.
Iraq’s judiciary on Monday discussed legal action against those who attacked media stations, as well as protesters.
Journalistic Freedoms Observatory head Ziad al-Ajili said it was the first time he had witnessed such an attempt to “terrorise” media outlets.
“This is an organised, pre-planned operation to silence media. This is the fundamental way to oppress protesters,” he said. “We expect more attacks.”
DEATH CONSTANTLY LOOMING: Decades of detention took a major toll on Iwao Hakamada’s mental health, his lawyers describing him as ‘living in a world of fantasy’ A Japanese man wrongly convicted of murder who was the world’s longest-serving death row inmate has been awarded US$1.44 million in compensation, an official said yesterday. The payout represents ￥12,500 (US$83) for each day of the more than four decades that Iwao Hakamada spent in detention, most of it on death row when each day could have been his last. It is a record for compensation of this kind, Japanese media said. The former boxer, now 89, was exonerated last year of a 1966 quadruple murder after a tireless campaign by his sister and others. The case sparked scrutiny of the justice system in
The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, was sacked yesterday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusts him, and fallout from a report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. He is to leave his post when his successor is appointed by April 10 at the latest, the statement said. Netanyahu on Sunday cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993. Bar, meant to
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
‘HUMAN NEGLIGENCE’: The fire is believed to have been caused by someone who was visiting an ancestral grave and accidentally started the blaze, the acting president said Deadly wildfires in South Korea worsened overnight, officials said yesterday, as dry, windy weather hampered efforts to contain one of the nation’s worst-ever fire outbreaks. More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend, with Acting South Korean Interior and Safety Minister Ko Ki-dong reporting thousands of hectares burned and four people killed. “The wildfires have so far affected about 14,694 hectares, with damage continuing to grow,” Ko said. The extent of damage would make the fires collectively the third-largest in South Korea’s history. The largest was an April 2000 blaze that scorched 23,913 hectares across the east coast. More than 3,000
RSS