2023/5/24
Sulaymaniyah court police prevented a reporter and cameraman of “RonMedia” website from coverage on Wednesday morning.
The correspondent of the site, Jalal Mohammed, told the Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq, that the police officers near the court, seized his personal mobile phone when he was accompanied by his colleague, cameraman Omid Yassin, to build up a report on cameras monitoring the speed of cars and fining violators. the reporter told the police that he is a journalist and has an assignment, but they prevented him from covering, and wiped the documented material from his mobile phone.
He added that the police demanded that the staff leave the scene immediately, and obtain government approvals to allow them to exercise their duty.
The Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq condemns the prevention of colleagues from performing their assigned duties, and considers it a clear violation and restriction of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of press and media work in the country.
The association states that the obstruction of the security services of the work of journalists in the Kurdistan region under the pretext of obtaining official approvals is an infringement to Article number 38 of the Iraqi Constitution, which allows freedom of journalistic and media work, in all its forms without conditions or restrictions.
