14/9/2020
Security officers of the 56th Brigade, which is tasked with protecting the Green Zone, attackedAl-Nujaba TV team and prevented them from covering a demonstration by a group of graduates on Monday morning.
Presenter of programs in the channel, Mokhaldal-Faisal told the Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq that they were near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; along with cameramen Mohamed Abdel Ali and AlaaZaboun, to cover the demonstrations organized by the graduates who are demanding for jobs.Elements of the brigade charged with protecting the green area beat them severely, and asked them to leave immediately, adding that other elements of the force attacked the driver of the vehicle of the channel for no reason.
While condemning the attack on the channel’s staff, the Association for considers the incident a violation of the freedom of journalistic and media work guaranteed by the Constitution.
The association calls on the interior minister and the competent authorities to hold the offending elements accountable, and the need to speed up the finding of a solution to stop the repeated attacks by the security forces on journalists during the performance of their work, and to protect them instead of attacking them simply for conveying events on the scene in accordance with the principles provided by law and guaranteed by the Constitution.
The association also calls on the government to meet its commitments and obligations in protecting the freedom of expression and journalistic work, and says it has not yet fulfilled this commitment, especially since all attacks against journalists continue unchecked.
