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KDP paper publishes threat against Kurdish
journalists: CPJ
11.8.2010 |
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August
11, 2010
NEW YORK, — The Committee to Protect
Journalists is alarmed by death threats made against
journalists at the Sulaimaniyah-based Livin after
the magazine published an interview that was
critical of a 20th-century Kurdish leader.
In the August 1 interview, Harvard doctoral student
Irfan Qani Fard discussed the legacy of Mustafa
Barzani, a Kurdish nationalist leader and the father
of Massoud Barzani, the current president of the
Kurdistan Regional Government and the leader of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). In the interview,
Fard asserted that Mustafa Barzani had betrayed Qazi
Mohamed, president of the short-lived Republic of
Kurdistan, and claimed that he was supported by
Iranian intelligence services.
Halgurd Samad, editorial director of Livin, told CPJ
that the magazine was then threatened in public
statements, e-mails, and text messages.
On Thursday, an entity describing itself as "youth
group defending the sanctity of Kurdistan" published
a statement in Khabat,
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Livin is an independent magazine published in
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region of Iraq. |
the daily newspaper of
the KDP, calling on Kurds to "raise their hands
against those who want to abuse the history of our
leaders, like Qazi Muhamed and General Mullah
Mustafa Barzani." It stated that "those who are
responsible must be abused and insulted. We are here
to sacrifice our lives against those who do not know
the borders of their freedom and freedom of others."
The
statement
insisted that Livin journalists apologize or "pay
the price."
Samad told CPJ that the text and e-mail threats were
similar. "The general message is that when it comes
to writing, Mustafa Barzani constitutes a red line
that should not be crossed," Samad said by phone.
Mohamed Mella Qader, a KDP official, told the
Kurdistan News Agency that "in the political bureau
of the party we are not aware of any threats to the
magazine,www.ekurd.netwe
did not do anything like that, and we will not do
it."
In July, the KDP filed a defamation complaint
against an opposition weekly, Rozhnama, seeking
US$1
billion in damages and the closing of
the newspaper. Rozhnama had published a report
accusing the KDP and the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK), the two ruling parties in Iraqi
Kurdistan, of profiting from illegal oil smuggling
to Iran.
"The KDP is building a record of intimidating
journalists who present critical views of the party
or its leaders," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, Middle
East and North Africa program coordinator. "We are
dismayed the KDP would claim ignorance of the thinly
veiled threats made on the pages of its own
newspaper. We call on the party's leadership to
unequivocally denounce these threats."
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, The Committee to Protect
Journalists | cpj org
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