ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Rudaw Media Network and several other outlets have been issued a warning from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Youth and Culture, asking the channel to refrain from broadcasting “violent scenes” amid ongoing protests across the Kurdistan Region.
“Severe legal action" will be taken against outlets broadcasting "scenes of violence" and the "burning down of political party offices and government buildings," or material that incites "violence or sabotage or the disturbing of social cohesion," according to an order sent to Rudaw on Sunday.
The warning has been issued to several other Kurdish media outlets, including Kurdistan Islamic Union’s (KIU) Speda, and the Kurdistan Islamic Group’s (Komal) Payam.
Protests erupted in Sulaimani city on December 2, with civil servants calling for salaries to be paid after having gone unpaid for much of this year amid budget disputes between Erbil and Baghdad, a drop in oil prices, and economic mismanagement.
Protests have since spread across Sulaimani and Halabja provinces, as well as the Garmiyan administration. Security forces have suppressed crowds using tear gas, water cannons, and live ammunition, with 10 people - 8 protesters and 2 Peshmerga – killed as of Sunday.
The Sulaimani offices of opposition outlet NRT were closed by security forces last week, with a ban on the channel extended for another seven days on Saturday.
The government claims NRT disregarded a previous directive and has continued to "incite" the public to violent acts, according to an administrative order from Shirwan Aula, the acting director of the Ministry of Culture and Youth’s Broadcasting and Publishing directorate.
NRT reporters were arrested on Friday during protests across Sulaimani and Halabja, covering the protests despite the ban imposed earlier in the week – which forbade both satellite broadcasts and publishing content online.
Iraq President Barham Salih has called on security forces in the Region to “ease the way for media outlets to do their jobs without complication and attacks.”
Kurdish authorities have had a questionable history when it comes to the freedom of the press. They have come under sustained criticism from international media watchdogs, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“Local authorities in Sulaimani, as well as regional Iraqi Kurdistan authorities, must cease their endless harassment of local broadcaster NRT, which they have repeatedly targeted over its coverage of news in the area,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado in a statement released December 8.
