Journalists in Basra have condemned recent comments made by the provincial commander of operations threatening them with arrest for covering local protests, and have called on the Iraqi prime minister to intervene to protect press freedoms.
The National Union of Iraqi Journalists held a protest outside the Basra governorate building on Thursday demanding the right to work free of intimidation and arrest.
The union released a statement on Wednesday condemning recent comments by Basra’s commander of operations, who warned journalists covering local demonstrations could be arrested.
The southern Iraqi city regularly sees mass protests over unemployment, crumbling infrastructure, and a lack of public services, particularly clean water and electricity. Security forces have violently clamped down on demonstrators.
In a video shared on social media this week, Qasim Jasim Nizal, Basra’s commander of operations, warned journalists they could face arrest if they cover “unauthorized” protests.
“The current protests are not peaceful in Basra and they need to have official approval from the Governor of Basra. Then the security forces of Basra can choose the time and date of the protests,” Nizal told local media.
“Otherwise, the protesters will face prison, including the journalists who cover the protests that are not approved by the government.”
The union said Nizal’s threat ran “against the principles of freedom of press” and called on Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to intervene.
Journalists in Basra have even launched a hashtag on Twitter, which translates from Arabic as “journalism cannot be silenced”, to pressure the government to act.
Iraq’s Ministry of Defense issued a statement on Thursday defending Nizal’s comments, claiming he was not threatening all journalists with arrest – only those who spread “fake news”.
“The Ministry of Defense would like to clarify regarding the recent statement of Basra commander of operations Qasim Jasim Nizal who stated that ‘journalists who cover protests without approval in Basra would face jail time’,” the ministry said.
“The Ministry of Defense followed the details of the statement and revealed that the commander of operations in Basra didn’t mean all the journalists, however he was directing his statement or speech to specific journalists who were spreading fake news and unconfirmed news to the public.”
“Unfortunately his statement was used by some people on social media in a wrong way and used to attack the security forces of Basra accusing them for limiting the freedom of press in the city,” it added.
Violence against journalists has been widespread since 2003.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the number of journalists killed across Iraq since the liberation stands at 185.
There are no clear figures on the number kidnapped, wounded, or arrested.
During the Basra protests of February 2019, the CPJ said paramilitias threatened, arrested, and used violence against journalists.
By Lawk Ghafuri
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