ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A detained journalist working for a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) affiliated news outlet was released by authorities in Sulaimani city on Tuesday, his employer confirmed. This comes after a number of press freedom watchdogs called for his immediate release. Rebaz Hassan was arrested alongside 30 people on Sunday while covering protests in Sulaimani against Turkish military operations in the Kurdistan Region, PKK-affiliated Roj News reported on Monday. He was released Tuesday afternoon, according to his employer Firat News Agency (ANF), but others remain in custody. “Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq claim that press freedom is respected in the region, but this arrest indicates otherwise,” Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) Middle East and North Africa representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado said shortly prior to Hassan’s release. “We call on local authorities to immediately release Rebaz Hassan without charge and allow journalists and media outlets to do their job freely and without fear of retaliation.” Journalist rights watchdog Metro Center also called for the release of the journalist, demanding that Kurdistan Region security services to respect the job of journalists. “Covering an unapproved protest should not be an excuse for violence and arrest of journalists,” director of Metro Center Diyari Mohammed said. Freedom of the press in the Kurdistan Region has been repeatedly questioned by local and international media watchdogs, especially recently, following rights violations including the imprisonment of journalists known for their anti-establishment writing. Five defendants - Sherwan Sherwani, Shvan Saeed, Ayaz Karam, Hariwan Issa, and Guhdar Zebari – were found guilty and sentenced to six years after a highly contentious trial in February. Human Rights Watch slammed the “unfair” trials of five journalists and activists on the first official Kurdish Journalism Day on Thursday. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last week criticized the Kurdistan Regional Government’s regard to press freedom, saying there are “no limits to the persecution of journalists who criticise its ruling families. They are jailed on charges of spying or endangering state security on the basis of confessions extracted under torture or by means of threats.” The KRG’s International Advocacy Coordinator, Dindar Zebari, classified RSF’s allegations against the regional government as “vague and not supported by details.” The US state department also slammed the Iraqi federal government and the KRG’s allowance for the freedom of expression, saying their “oversight and censorship sometimes interfered with media operations, at times resulting in the closure of media outlets, restrictions on reporting, denying access to public information, and interference with internet service.” Photo: Metro Center
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