12/6/2023
Members of the Duhok police prevented the NRT TV team from covering a demonstration in Dohuk, seized and completely smashed their equipment, on Monday morning.
The Press Freedom Advocacy Association learned from its coordinator in the region, that the channel’s reporter Periyar Neroy, and cameraman Adel Sabri, were on a special coverage of a demonstration organized by the owners of car repair shops in Dohuk, and during the live broadcast, the security stormed the site, seized equipment from the staff, and smashed it, under the pretext that the cadre did not obtain the required approvals to cover the demonstration.
The coordinator added that the force destroyed all the equipment of the staff, including a camera, digital transmitters and memory sticks, burdening the channel with a heavy loss.
The Association expresses its concern about the insistence of the security forces on harassing media workers, and deliberately using various forms of violence against them, to prevent them from performing their assigned duties, and considers the incident a flagrant violation of the freedom of journalistic work.
The association recalls that the obstruction of the security services to the work of the media, in the Kurdistan region under the pretext of obtaining official approvals, is an infringement and leap on Article 38 of the Constitution, which allowed freedom of press and media work, in all its forms without condition or restriction, but the authorities in the Kurdistan region still continue to target journalists and opinion makers despite their condemnation by international and UN organizations.
