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Iraqi president launches lawsuit against
Kurdish-Hawlati weekly
31.1.2008
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Committee to Protect Journalists Condemns Jalal
Talabani
January
31, 2008
New York, -- The Committee to Protect
Journalists is alarmed by the criminal defamation
lawsuit filed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on
Tuesday against the editor-in-chief of the
independent Kurdish weekly Hawlati for translating
and publishing a report written by a U.S. scholar.
Tariq Fatih, publisher of Hawlati, told CPJ the
newspaper was served papers on Tuesday notifying it
of a criminal libel complaint against
Editor-in-Chief Abid Aref for a critical report the
paper translated and published on January 13. The
report was written by Michael Rubin for the U.S.
nonprofit American Enterprise Institute for Public
Policy Research.
The report was highly critical of Talabani, who is
also head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party,
and Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan
Regional Government in Iraq, concluding that “the
unreliability of [Iraqi Kurdistan] leadership makes
any long-term U.S.-Kurdish alliance unwise.” |
Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd |
“We are deeply concerned by the frivolous criminal
defamation suit launched by Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani against Hawlati’s editor-in-chief,” CPJ
Executive Director Joel Simon said. “Hawlati
translated and published a report that sought to
describe public officials and their actions.
Journalists should not face criminal penalties for
covering such public matters. This prosecution is
firmly at odds with the image that Iraqi Kurdistan
officials regularly promote of a region that
supports democracy and press freedom. President
Talabani should drop this suit immediately.”
Fatih said the case was filed under Article 433 of
the 1969 Iraqi Penal Code, which criminalizes
defamation and sets prison and monetary penalties.
Fatih told CPJ that Aref will appear in court in
Sulaimaniyah,www.ekurd.net
in Iraq’s northern
Kurdistan region, on February 4. He said two
government dailies—Khabat and Kurdistani Nuwe—reported
that Barzani had also filed a criminal complaint.
Fatih said the newspaper had not been served notice
of that complaint as yet.
Azad Jindyany, head of the central press office for
Talabani’s party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan,
confirmed to CPJ today that the criminal defamation
case was filed. By translating the report and
publishing it, he said, Hawlati had promoted the
defamation of Talabani and the other Kurdish
leaders. The spokesman said Talabani would file a
lawsuit against Rubin in the United States.
“I find it incredibly ironic that the Kurdistan
leadership responds to an essay that criticizes the
silencing of journalists with a frivolous lawsuit,”
Rubin told CPJ. Talabani “should have much better
things to do than harass an independent newspaper.”
Rubin's article—“Is Iraqi Kurdistan a Good
Ally?”—questioned U.S. strategic relations with
Iraqi Kurdistan, pointing out undemocratic
governance, rampant corruption, and anti-U.S.
positions.
Jindyany cited “issues” with Rubin’s report,
specifically references to what were said to be the
practices of Kurdish leaders in hosting U.S.
leaders,www.ekurd.net
and to Talibani’s
personal worth. In his report, Rubin wrote that
Iraqi Kurds “shower visiting U.S. officials with
hospitality, arranging lavish banquets and, in a few
cases, even facilitating liaisons with women.” He
also wrote: “While in office, both Barzani and
Talabani have amassed fortunes in excess of $2
billion and $400 million, respectively.”
The media in Iraq’s Kurdistan region are dominated
by Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party and
Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the
region’s main political parties. However, several
outspoken independent and semi-independent
newspapers—in addition to online news sites—have
emerged over the last several years, providing
critical coverage of local politics and government.
While the margin to criticize is relatively wide in
the independent press, a CPJ mission to Erbil and
Sulaimaniyah in October and November found a rising
number of physical attacks on the press, arbitrary
detentions of reporters by security forces, and the
use of the courts to harass journalists. Those
targeted often harshly criticize local officials,
discuss alleged high-level corruption, or write
about the parties’ top leadership. The CPJ
delegation raised particular alarm about beatings
and abductions carried out by men wearing
military-style uniforms and the press law as well as
politicized lawsuits against outspoken newspapers.
cpj org
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