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Death threat attack on "Freedom of
Expression" in Kurdistan
10.3.2008
By Mariwan Hama-Saeed in Washington (ICR No. 248,
10-Mar-08)
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Threat against journalist is latest in wave of
official intimidation of the Kurdish press.
March 10, 2008
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region 'Iraq'
The brother-in-law of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani
has apologised after threatening to kill a
journalist who he said insulted his late father in
an article. |
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Halo Ibrahim Ahmed, the
son of the late Ibrahim Ahmed, a famous 20th century
Kurdish politician, wrote a letter to journalist
Nabaz Goran on February 28 saying, “[I will] kill
you, [Goran] even if I have one day left of my
life.”
The outburst, which has received substantial
coverage in the Kurdish press, was the latest in a
wave of recent threats and attacks against
journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan.
It was prompted when Goran wrote an article
published in the independent Hawlati newspaper
criticising the lack of electricity in the north. In
the piece,www.ekurd.net
he noted that Ibrahim
Ahmed’s grave - which is a shrine on the outskirts
of the northern city of Sulaimaniyah - is lit up
around the clock. Talabani is married to Ibrahim
Ahmed's daughter.
Ahmed confirmed to IWPR that he wrote the letter,
which was sent via email, and said he regretted it.
“It was 11:30 at night when I read his article,”
said Ahmed. “I was really upset that he had written
about my father in an insulting way.
“I had a terrible reaction and I wrote those nasty
words, which now I regret.”
In recent years, many Kurdish journalists have been
arrested, beaten and harassed by security forces.
Media representatives argue that powerful figures in
the north do not respect independent media, while
Kurdish officials accuse the Kurdish press of
adopting poor editorial standards and having little
respect for cultural traditions.
In an earlier incident in April last year, Goran was
abducted by five men wearing military uniforms in
the Kurdish capital of Erbil. He maintained that he
was taken to a place outside the city and beaten
severely.
This attack was thought to be retaliation for the
journalist breaking news that a Kurdistan Democratic
Party, KDP, media official had allegedly insulted
Kurds during a speech. Goran wrote a series of
articles about it and demonstrations against the
official broke out across the region.
In another incident on January 29, Talabani sued
Hawlati for defamation and republishing fabricated
information in a translated article by Michael
Rubin, an American scholar. The charges were filed
under article 433 Iraqi Penal Code,www.ekurd.net
which was written under
Saddam Hussein’s regime and criminalises defamation.
The article, which was originally published by the
American Enterprise Institute, alleged that Barzani
and Talabani had amassed fortunes of two billion and
400 million US dollars, respectively.
If convicted, Hawlati’s editor-in-chief Abid Aref
could face from six months to one year in prison.
"We are not worried about the trial," said Aref.
"This is a part of a long fight for freedom of the
press and democracy.”
Aref said that Ahmed’s recent comments in response
to Goran’s article were “an attack on freedom of
expression and democracy in Kurdistan”.
"If Nabaz Goran thinks that freedom of expression is
to talk about my father’s grave and get away with
it, then he is dead wrong," Ahmed reportedly wrote
in a letter to Hawlati, before publicly apologising.
Talabani's press office said they knew nothing about
the incident.
"We are not aware of this," said spokesman Nizar
Barwary. "We don't follow things that are published
on those [Kurdish] websites. We have other things to
do in Baghdad."
Goran said he is now planning to sue Ahmed for
"terror and intimidation", a charge which carries a
sentence of up to 15 years’ imprisonment under the
Kurdistan Regional Government’s laws.
"I will file a lawsuit against him, even though I
believe that there is no law in this country that
can convict people like him," he said.
Goran said he was disappointed that the Kurdistan
Journalists Syndicate - which is loyal to the KRG
and the region’s parties - had not condemned the
threat.
"I have been contacted from France and the US by
journalists’ organisations that want to follow up on
this issue," said Goran, who is a member of the
syndicate. "Unfortunately, the syndicate has not
said anything."
Zirak Kamal, secretary of the Kurdistan Journalists
Syndicate, said that while his organisation condemns
threats against journalists, it could not
investigate this incident because Goran had not
filed an official complaint with the syndicate.
Goran said the threats will not discourage him from
writing stories.
"I don't pay attention to [officials],” he said.
“I'm just worried that this will become a model for
other officials to imitate."
Mariwan Hama-Saeed is IWPR Iraq editor.
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