SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) should immediately release journalist Omed Baroshky, sentenced to prison in Duhok, and stop harassing the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Tuesday.
A court in Duhok sentenced Baroshky to one year in jail on two counts of violating Article 2 of the law on Misuse of Communication Devices.
He was also fined 240,000 Iraqi dinars for violating Article 240 of the Iraqi Penal Code, according to his brother Mahir Baroshky.
“With today’s sentencing of freelance journalist Omed Baroshky, Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq have again displayed their unhindered determination to shrink the space in which local journalists and media outlets are able to operate freely,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado.
“Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq should immediately release Baroshky, drop the charges against him, and cease harassing the media,” Delgado added.
His brother told Esta Media Network on Tuesday that Baroshky would face additional charges at a hearing delayed to August.
