Two journalists from Erbil were arrested by the Sulaymaniyah security forces for two legal cases have been filed against them, one by the counter terrorism agency and the other by the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG's Finance Minister.
Sartip Waisi, editor-in-chief of Bawar media agency, and Ibrahim Ali, editorial director of the agency, were arrested near Koya district on October 9th, at night while driving from Sulaymaniyah to Erbil. Bwar is a media agency dedicated to news, information and commentary, Bwar News says.
The Kurdistan Parliament's Human Rights Committee, the Journalists Union and the Metro Center to defend journalists visited the Sulaymaniyah Asayish (Security) and met with the two journalists.
Karwan Anwar, secretary of the Sulaymaniyah branch of the Kurdistan Union of Journalists, told a news conference on October 10th that the two journalists were arrested near Koya.
"We saw the two journalists and found out that they had an arrest warrant, but they have not any prior warning," Anwar said.
He demanded that the journalists to be dealt with within the framework of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Press Law, not other laws, which bans arrest and detention of journalists for journalistic work and activities.
The local and international organizations, human rights advocates members of the Iraqi and Kurdistan parliaments MPs continuously express their grave concern that the journalists and the freedom of press are increasingly under threat all over Iraq including the Iraqi Kurdistan Region IKR.
The Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq PFAA monitored 280 cases of violations against journalists from May 3, 2021 to May 2, 2022 per which Baghdad and Erbil ranked first with 56 violations, followed by Kirkuk province with 37 cases.
Iraq currently ranks 163rd out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index. All the killers of murdered journalists in the KRI have operated with impunity, according to CPJ’s 2021 Global Impunity Index where Iraq is ranked third.
Iraq section of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Iraq in 2021, by the Bureau of Democracy, human rights and labor, documented human rights issues based credible reports of: serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests and prosecutions against journalists; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
Badriya Ismail, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament's Social Affairs and Human Rights Committee, who was one of those who visited the two journalists in the Sulaymaniyah Asayish, told the press conference, “contrary to the rumors, they were neither injured not shot, and hano traffic accident.
“As parliament, we will monitor their case, so that they can be tried only within the framework of press law.”
The two lawsuits have been filed against them, one by the Kurdistan Counter Terrorism (KTC affiliated to Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK) and the other by the finance minister, but stressed they have not seen the contents of the lawsuit.
"The journalists say they have not received any court decision. They were arrested by an anti-terror force on their way back," said Diyari Mohammed, director of the Metro Center, a member of the group that visited the two journalists in prison.
Mohammed said they have told him that they had been interrogated for eight hours.
The Iraqi Kurdistan region has registered 138 cases of violation against 315 media outlets and reporters in 2021 including 47 cases of coverage ban against 104 media outlets and reporters.
Official figures by syndicate of journalists show the KRG has registered 31 satellite TV channels, 51 online media outlets, 138 radio stations, 259 papers, 695 magazines, 85 local TV stations.
