ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two journalists who were said to be missing are currently in the custody of Sulaimani security forces, according to a statement by their Erbil-based employer.
Editor-in-chief of Bwar Media Sarteep Qashqayi and Editor Ibrahim Ali headed towards Sulaimani on a work trip on Sunday morning and were supposed to return to Erbil later in the day, but lost contact with their colleagues at around 6:00PM, according to a statement from the news outlet.
“After inquiry and follow-up, it was revealed that the two journalists were arrested by Sulaimani’s security agencies,” read a statement from Bwar Media on Monday.
Rudaw English reached out several times to Sulaimani’s police and local security forces (Asayish), but they were not immediately available.
Badriya Ismael, and Kurdistan Region MP, told Rudaw's Soran Hussein on Monday that she had visited the two journalists while in custody of Sulaimani's Asayish, saying the reason for their arrests were that they "had two complaints against them: one from the counter-terrorism directorate, and one from the finance ministry."
The news outlet held the security actors in Sulaimani and the presidencies of the Kurdistan Region, the government, and the parliament, accountable for “protecting the lives” of Qashqayi, Ali, and all journalists in the Region.
The Kurdistan Region has faced harsh criticism for its treatment of journalists over the past year as it perused “numerous cases” against journalists in the last year.
Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate (KJS) on Thursday said the Region in 2021 reported 79 cases of violations, including insults, attacks and beating, committed against 187 journalists and media outlets.
Updated at 8:43AM Tuesday with Ismael's statement
