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Freedom and
Arrest - Media monitor
29.4.2006
Press from 28.Apr.2006
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Freedom and Arrest
(By Hilal Ibrahim, Hawlati April 26, 2006) The
Kurdistan Democratic Solutions Party decided to pour
into Sulaimaniyah's streets one day to protest
Turkey's oppression of Kurds.
I went to cover the event for Hawlati (newspaper.) A
security officer approached me and told me (to
leave) the protest. I told him that it was my right
to be there and showed him my journalist's ID. But
he grabbed my arm and dragged me toward a car,
calling me names.
The security forces outnumbered the demonstrators.
Four members of the security forces put me in a
civilian car that they had seized using their guns.
Before the car began moving a member of the security
forces put his head inside of the car, spat in my
face and called me several names.
Two members of the security forces sat next to me in
the car. One told me if I tried to escape he would
shoot me with "a thousand bullets." They yelled at
the driver to get us to the security office fast.
When we arrived there, the security officer who had
first arrested me punched me while we stood under a
sign reading, "The hands, the mouths and the
behaviour of security personnel must be clean." For
15 years (Kurdish) officials have made claims of
freedom of expression and democracy.
What we see is not only that a person cannot freely
demand his rights but his life is put in danger when
he tries to do so. Under the pretext of preserving
the (Kurdish) achievements they try to suppress any
voice, which is why the officers told me, "You want
to disturb our (democratic) experience." I just have
one question: If our experience cannot handle a
demonstration of forty people, how can it stand up
to Turkey, Syria and Iran?
(Hawlati is an independent newspaper issued weekly
by Ranj Print House.)
www.iwpr.net
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