2/10/2020
Anbar Governor Ali Farhan directed all administrative units and government institutions in the province not to deal with press organizations and media cadres and to cooperate with accredited journalists exclusively.
Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq recieved a copy of the book issued by the governor’s office, which included a circular pledging not to deal with any union or organization, even if it had a media status and limited it to those registered with the journalists’ union.
This comes on the basis of the issuance of a call by colleagues in the Journalists Syndicate to the official authorities to limit the dealings with the entity of the union, and its members.
The governor said the union is the legitimate authority in dealing with journalists, while there are many colleagues working in the media and the press without having an identification status in the union.
The Association notes that the constitution guarantees the multiplicity of unions and Syndicates, has the upper house of all laws in force, and that any legal articles contrary to the constitution will not be of legal value.
The Association that this is an explicit constitutional violation. And it also rejects the governor’s actions, as it disrupts the work of many journalists who do not want to join the union, and calls on the governor of Anbar to reconsider his decision in accordance with the constitution.
