22/6/2020
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Erbil has recommended that the Ministry of Culture in the Kurdistan region close the NRT channel on the background of the publication of reports on health conditions in the region and the high number of people infected with the Corona epidemic, last week.
The director of the channel’s Baghdad office, Omid Mohammed, said in a telephone conversation with Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq that the public prosecutor in Erbil had prepared a document addressing the Ministry of Culture in the Kurdistan region to consider closing the channel’s offices, under the pretext of preserving public interest, calming the internal situation, and public health.
Omid said the document claimed that the channel had published reports urging citizens in the province to violate the preventive measures of the Corona epidemic and encouraged them to demonstrate because of poor living conditions after their work was suspended during the health ban.
Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq condemns the measure by the public prosecutor in Erbil against the channel, and sets a dangerous precedent for violating the constitution and confiscating the freedom of journalistic work.
While the association shows its respect for the judiciary in the Kurdistan region, it states that government agencies have caused numerous violations of press and media freedom and abuses against the sanctity of media organizations and their employees without any deterrent or action from the Public prosecution.
