The Iraqi Center for Supporting Freedom of Speech (Rights) recorded 50 arrest warrants against journalists and bloggers, as well as 15 attacks on them, while a journalist was arrested during demonstrations that took place two weeks ago in six provinces in southern Iraq.
While the Iraqi Center condemns repeated violations of journalists and bloggers covering the demonstrations, and warns the authorities against continuing abuses and abuses against journalists and media teams that convey events in Iraqi provinces.
The Iraqi Center (Rights), issuing arrest warrants against some journalists and bloggers, is unacceptable contrary to the constitutional rights guaranteed by the law, and a kind of intimidation aimed at disrupting the work of media teams in those provinces, and violates the freedom of access to information, Press in society and the country.
The Iraqi Center (Rights), the Commander of the Armed Forces, Haidar Al-Abbadi, directed all security leaders to respect the journalists’ work and bloggers and provide protection for them when covering the demonstrations because they are working according to the Constitution and the law.
"More than 50 arrest warrants have been issued against journalists and activists in Baghdad, Basra, Salah al-Din, Karbala, Babel, Diwaniyah, in addition to the various attacks suffered, Hassan al-Bayati, broadcaster in Al-Rashid satellite channel, was arrested in of Ur district, west of Baghdad. He was later released. " A number of journalists told the Iraqi Center for Supporting Freedom of Speech (Rights).
The journalists in an interview with the Rights Center that "security forces attacked the correspondent of the Dejla satellite channel in Baghdad, Anas Yusuf in Tahrir Square, and the team of the same channel in Diwaniyah, which consists of Zaid al-Fatlawi and Mohammed al-Bolani to excesses of security forces, while security forces arrested in Tahrir square in the center of Baghdad, Ahmed Jassim Karim, who works for the Swedish newspaper "Afto Baladet" after the beating, and the channel's staff in Babel were also attacked. Al-Masar TV correspondent Mohammed al-Shammari said the channel team was expelled from a press conference at the Interior Ministry, Mazen al-Kaabi, a cameraman of al-Hurra Iraq channel in Diwaniyah, was severely beaten and security elements in Babel beat Issa al-Atwani with pistols. Al-Ahdat channel journalists and parents complained to the center of security abuses in Hilla.
In Karbala, a correspondent for Al-Tagheer satellite channel said that "government cars have been follow him for two days and he is very worried about his life, as reported journalist Haider Hadi in Karbala, that cars were followed him two days ago for unknown reasons, and the journalist Khamis al-Khazraji that he was summoned to a security center in the district of Dujail north of Baghdad on the pretext of incitement to demonstrate, Ahmad al-Shaibani, who works for Radio Hona  Al-Diwaniyah, also said that he was threatened with physical liquidation through a text message to his personal phone. Journalists covering Al-Hurra, Sumeriya, Al-Ahad, Al-Tagheer, Asia and Al- E’tegah were harassed by security forces in more than one province.