Very sad day for Kirkuk journalism

[Anthea]

Kirkuk Now

On what should have been a day of celebration for Kurdish journalism has instead turned to one filled with desperation, secrecy, and uncertainty. The reason for this? The arrest of Kirkuk Now journalist Yassin al-Sabawi on Saturday, April 20 while covering the protests against the government. The location and situation of Yassin al-Sabawi is still unknown, despite protests from Kirkuk Now and other media outlets both inside and outside of Iraq.

In an official letter of protest to the Iraqi government, Kirkuk Now stated that:

“We, the Kirkuk Now website, have appealed to you to try your very best for the release Kirkuk Now’s reporter Yassin Abdulrazaq Ahmad, who has been arrested by the 12th division of the Iraqi Army on the evening of Saturday, April 20 in the Hawjia district and has been taken away to an unknown destination.

Yassin Abdulrazaq Ahmad has been covering the Hawija protests since they started and was one of the journalists reporting about the conflicts between protesters and Iraqi military members on April 19.

Yassin Abdulrazaq Ahmad has been arrested without the court’s decision by members of the Iraqi army and not the police, which is completely in violation of human rights as well as recognized global journalism laws.

We demand that the Iraqi government respect the freedom of journalism and treat all the journalists and treat all others according to the law and regulations.”

The arrest of Yassin Abdulrazaq Ahmad along with other journalists by the Iraqi Army is a strange act given the fact that following a protest by journalists on August 28 of 2012, Kirkuk Governor Nejmadin Karim said that they ‘do not discriminate’ between any journalists.

The gathering took place on Tuesday August 28 when the journalists protested in front of the Kirkuk governorate demanding ‘access to information for all journalists’. The Kirkuk governor met with the protesters later, discussing their demands.

“We saw ourselves as friends of all journalists, and we do not discriminate against journalists of the city, as to provide them with their rights and freedom,” Nejmadin Karim said.

To read the post in its entirety, go to this link:

http://kirkuknow.com/english/index.php/ ... urnalists/

There has, up until the time of this post, not been any response from the office of Governor Nejmadin Karim regarding the location and any other information about Yassin Abdulrazaq Ahmad.

The protection of journalists and insuring that they be able to report the news without governmental restrictions are the basis of a free press. Kirkuk Now, an independent website has been publishing the news in four languages for the past two years. Being prevented from reporting the news is a direct violation of basic human rights and especially the right to know.

http://kirkuknow.com/english/index.php/ ... ournalism/

[talsor]

One more Sunni arrested by Shia government . So what ? Any asshole with a laptop and agenda is either a journalist or activist these days . The guy is an Arab from Hawija who are/were opposed to everything that is kurdish in Saddam's time and Now , so why is this posted in Kurdistan section ?