24 JOURNALISTS ARRESTED WITHOUT COURT ORDERS IN KURDISTAN IN 2018: ADVOCACY
As many as 24 journalists were arrested without court orders in the Kurdistan Region last year, said the Metro Center for Journalists‘ Rights and Advocacy. The advocacy released its 2018 statistics on Thursday (January 17) in Erbil. Head of the advocacy’s Relations Office Shna Baba Ali said in a press conference that 17 journalists were also arrested by court orders but not in accordance with the journalism laws. Up to 264 journalists and media stations filed complaints about 349 violations that were carried out against them in 2018, Ali added. “There were 188 cases of preventions, 13 cases of beating, 12 cases of injuries, three cases of breaking journalist equipment, 26 cases of seizing journalist equipment, 57 cases of threats and insults, three cases of attacks and gun shooting at journalists’ houses, one case of burning channel, and five cases of halting broadcast,” the advocacy said. “2018 was a year of preventing coverage and it was a bad year of providing information.” On January 13, the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate released its statistics for 2018 saying there were 132 violations by the security forces against journalists in the Kurdistan Region last year. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), there are currently at least 25 unpunished murders of journalists in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. (NRT Digital Media)
