Kalar police detained the Director General of NRT satellite Channel being jailed till June 7th for interrogation.
The interrogation was built on the background of an earlier detainment of the channel’s correspondence for his case story about a man stealing baby milk for his child in Kifri district of Diyala Province. The story had a big impact in the light of the suffocating financial crisis witnessed by KRG.
It is to be mentioned that Aram Bakhtiyar was detained on the 22nd of last month, and the judge asked the Director of the channel Awat Ali to attend court, whereas the latter said that this would threaten his life since he had already received a number of killing threats.
At the time that Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq expresses its astonishment concerning the Judge’s request, and keeping him imprisoned for three days for interrogation, it considers the event at whole a dire violation to the Iraqi constitution and a slope deterioration in applying laws and regulations since it enjoys the past regime’s legal exercising and function that was applied 13 years ago.
The association invites all free countries and international organizations to interfere to stop this nonsense, the irresponsible management of the country’s provisions, abolishing public and private freedoms, and the violation of all agreements and international accords that have secured the freedom of expression. The situation of press today places Iraq as whole and especially KRG on the merge of any press profession to be exercised in the country.
The association demands that PM Haider Alibadi to interfere to save what is possible to be saved of freedom of expression and opinion in the country.
