Calls to Defend Press Freedom in Iraq

Calls to Defend Press Freedom in Iraq

The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, both of which are media watchdog groups, have issued a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki calling for greater protection of journalists. Although it acknowledges the progress in the Iraqi media since 2003, the letter cites an unsafe security environment and governmental intimidation and harassment of journalists as intolerable threats to press freedom.


 


The letter calls on the government to condemn intimidation, enforce penalties for media-related offenses, and release freelance photographer Ibrahim Jassam Mohammad, who has been held for nine months without charge. of soft power, opening “a window of opportunity for Iranian public diplomacy.”


 


The Source