یزدفردا | نسخه چاپی | Journalists Face Lawsuits in Iraqi Kurdistan

Journalists Face Lawsuits in Iraqi Kurdistan

TEHRAN, Jan 9 (ICANA) – Recently, the President of the Kurdistan Region, Mesud Barzani, gave a speech to a closed session of parliament, in which he denounced some of the practices of independent journalists in the region.

The contents of the speech were of course leaked by opposition MPs. Mr Barzani is alleged to have said that journalists critical of his government are "muddling the condition of Kurdism" and "distorting the Kurdish personality". When two academics published a joint article criticizing these comments, Mr Barzani took legal action against them. A large demonstration was organized in protest, and after pressure brought about by the international NGO Reporters Without Borders, Mr Barzani dropped the lawsuit. While the latest high-profile lawsuit was dropped, others have not been so lucky. Soran Omar, editor-in-chief of the independent Rega Magazine, was recently forced to close down his publication after a multi-million dinar lawsuit was brought against it. We interviewed President Barzani's personal lawyer. His thoughts are echoed by the editor-in-chief of the most widely read publication in Kurdistan, Lvin Magazine, who is subject to a $1 Billion lawsuit from President Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP. Aso Hardi, a KDP member of parliament, rejects this characterization, and defends the law suits on the basis of security and cultural sensitivities. fresh in the Iraqi Kurdish people's memory is the death of the young student and writer Sardasht Osman last year, who was brutally tortured and murdered after publishing anti-Barzani articles on the internet. President Barzani said in his speech to parliament that journalists in the region are misusing their freedom, and that they must be stopped. But speaking to the many opposition voices in the region, it seems clear that they will continue their criticism in spite of government efforts