جمعية الدفاع عن حرية الصحافة في العراق Press freedom advocacy association in Iraq
24/9/2022
Security forces in Erbil detained two reporters and a photojournalist, preventing them from covering a demonstration in Erbil, on Saturday morning in support of Iran’s protests against the backdrop of the killing of Iranian Kurdish girl Mahsa Amini.
The correspondent of the “Westke” Foundation, Nabz Rashad told the Association for Press Freedom in Iraq, that security elements of the Asayish and the police, detained him along with a reporter and photojournalist of the “Diplomatic McZen” site; (Rebin Sardar Abdul Qadir and Saber Abdullah Ahmed) inside one of the police vehicles for more than forty minutes, after seizing their equipment to prevent them from covering the demonstration near the Iranian embassy in Erbil. The protest was organized by a number of citizens against the killing of the young Iranian Kurdish young lady, pointing out that the forces released them, after they vowed to leave the site immediately.
Nabz mentioned that the security force seized his mobile phone, which is still in their possession.
While the Association expresses its high concern about the exacerbation of violence used by security forces against journalists in the region, it considers the incident as a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of journalistic and media work in the country.
The association calls on the security services in the Kurdistan region to stop deliberately tightening its grip around the media and its workers in the region, by detaining or arresting fellow journalists, preventing them from covering the current events on the scene, and respecting the principles of the constitution and the law.
