Abducted Journalist Released at Kurdish Checkpoint

20/10/2017

Asayish Kurdish Forces released Egyptian Alghad correspondent who was held at the main checkpoint in Erbil- Kirkuk after carrying out the coverage of incidents in the city.

Sources followed by Press Freedom Advocacy Association said that The Kurdish Asayish Forces abducted correspondent Suhaib Ali Albaldawy of Alghad Satellite channel at the entrance of Erbil- Kirkuk as he was covering the security situation in Erbil, his place of residency. The incident took place on Friday morning and he was released after confiscating his phone and personal equipment.

At the time that Press Freedom Advocacy Association severely condemns imposing the security and military unrest upon press, it demands, for the sake of their lives, that all military forces take off their hands from upon the press personnel executing their coverage duties in the area.

The Association deems detention as a dire violation of the Iraqi constitution and valid legislation especially in KRG and calls upon the free world and international organizations to protect journalists in Iraq and demands that all political officials  to interfere to control the wild attitude of the military forces towards press and its personnel in Iraq.