ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An international press freedom watchdog on Friday urged Kurdistan Region authorities to release a journalist who was sentenced to six months imprisonment for defamation.
“We are deeply troubled by the sentencing of journalist Omed Baroshky over a Facebook post,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, interim Middle East program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“Iraqi Kurdish authorities must ensure that journalists are not criminalized for their reporting. We urge authorities to free Baroshky and allow him to continue his work without fear of retaliation,” he added.
This is not the first time Baroshky has served time in jail in connection with his work. He was among dozens of journalists and activists arrested in Duhok in the summer of 2020 after anti-government protests over unpaid wages. Their cases drew international condemnation. Baroshky was convicted of “misusing a communication device” and spent a year and a half in jail.
He has now been sentenced again under Article Two of the same law that states that anyone who misuses online or offline platforms to “slander, threaten, insult or spread fabricated news that provokes terror and conversations contrary to public morals” may be jailed for up to five years and fined over $3,000, according to the CPJ.
Baroshky’s lawyer, Revving Hruri told the CPJ that the charges are related to a January 23, 2024 Facebook post in which Baroshky reported that Mala Nazir had been kidnapped from prison a day before his release, according to the CPJ.
Hruri told CPJ he presented “multiple pieces of evidence proving that [Baroshky] is a journalist and should be tried under the press law, which does not allow imprisonment, but the court refused.”
Baroshky was the founder of Rast Media, which was shut down by security forces.
Kurdish authorities repeatedly face harsh criticism for their treatment of journalists as well as imposing restrictive measures on the press. Erbil has previously defended its prosecution of journalists, stating that the courts are independent, and requested assistance from the United Nations and foreign missions to strengthen the legal system and train judges.
