Fellow reporters were subjected to an unprovoked attack by Mp Kazem Finjan during a press conference, Thursday evening, on the background of a surprise question posed by the correspondent of Asia Channel about the hosting of two ministers in HOR..
The coordinator of the Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq followed up with the journalists that were subjected to the attack, and said that the correspondent of The Asia Channel Mohammed Awaid and al-Nujaba channel correspondent Hussein Farid, were verbally attacked and abused, by MP Kazem Finjan Al Hammami during a press conference in the media department of HOR.
After a question asked by Mohamed Awad about the questioning of ministers in parliament, MP Hammami considered the question misplaced, and it is not the right of the journalist to ask such a question to an MP, and in the meantime the intervention of colleague Hussein Farid reminded him of his duty to answer the questions of journalists and inform the people about what is going on inside the dome of the parliament, Al-Hammami attacked journalists and the attending reporters, describing them as “street boys,”. The video was posted on social media on the journalists’ pages driving the MP to threaten the journalists to impose tribal prosecution.
At the time that the Association condemns the attack and the unjustified conduct of Hammami, it reminds the MP that one of his tasks is to inform the public and his voters about what is going on in the sessions of the House of Representatives, and the course of the legislative and supervisory work, and that his displeasure or objection to a sudden question is a weakness in understanding of the laws and the Iraqi constitution, which guaranteed freedom of the press in all its forms.
The association said that the tribal threat that was posed once the video was published, as well as being contrary to the parliamentary work in the Iraqi state, is also a flagrant violation of the constitution, and we stress upon the journalist’s right to publish any available material.
The association calls on Speaker of the House of Representatives Mohamed Al-Halbousi to intervene immediately and hold the MP accountable, since what happened is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and laws that guaranteed the freedom of expression, which their protection should be secured by HOR and its representatives.
