ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Authorities in the Kurdistan Region on Saturday extended a ban on an opposition TV channel, as violent clashes between protesters and security forces continue.
The government claims NRT disregarded a previous directive and has continued to "incite" the public to violent acts, according to an administrative order from Shirwan Aula, the acting director of the Ministry of Culture and Youth’s Broadcasting and Publishing directorate.
A number of journalists and prominent activists were detained during Friday's protests in Sulaimani and Halabja provinces, including reporters from NRT, who continued covering the protests despite the ban placed on the channel on Sunday. Under the government’s orders, the channel was forbidden from putting out content both online and on television.
Despite the ban, "they continued to broadcast images of violence and torching the party and government offices and inciting the public and their audiences directly to violence and rioting and disrupting the social coexistence,” reads the government order.
Protests broke out last Wednesday in the city of Sulaimani, with teachers and other civil servants demanding their salaries after going unpaid for most of this year amid budget disputes between Erbil and Baghdad. Protests have taken place across numerous towns in the province, as well as in Halabja province and the Garmiyan and Raparin administrations. Ten people have reportedly died in the unrest, including eight protesters and two Peshmerga fighters.
According to the new order, the channel is forbidden from publishing for another week.
The broadcaster has fallen foul of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on numerous occasions and in particular in March 2011 when the channel's offices were burned down by a unidentified force believed to be affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the ruling parties and in charge of the security forces in Sulaimani and Halabja provinces.
The channel started its operation in 2010 with the stated aim of being independent, but in recent years – following the establishment of the New Generation Party by businessman Shaswar Abdulwahid, who owns the channel – the coverage is seen by many as partial.
Kurdish authorities have had a questionable history when it comes to freedom of press. They have come under sustained criticism from international media watchdogs, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“Local authorities in Sulaimani, as well as regional Iraqi Kurdistan authorities, must cease their endless harassment of local broadcaster NRT, which they have repeatedly targeted over its coverage of news in the area,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado in a statement released on December 8. “Authorities must allow NRT to reopen its office in Sulaimani and reverse the suspension of its broadcasts immediately. NRT must be allowed to operate freely.”
