“With today’s sentencing of freelance journalist Omed Baroshki, 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,” CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado in a statement on Tuesday.
“Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq should immediately release Baroshki, drop the charges against him, and cease harassing the media,” the statement added.
Omed Baroshki was arrested by Duhok security forces last year for his alleged role in protests and was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday on the grounds of misusing a communication device.
A source familiar with the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he received two six-month sentences from a Duhok court and was also fined 240,000 Iraqi dinars ($162) for violating administrative rulings following a lawsuit from the Duhok governor’s office and Duhok police.
His next trial is on July 24, when “he will be tried for three other lawsuits against him,” the source added.
Baroshki and Badal Barwari, a teacher in the public sector, as well as five other activists and journalists have been held by security forces since summer 2020 for their alleged role in protests which were held against the Kurdistan Region’s failure to pay its civil servants in full and on time.
Their arrests and trial has been condemned by both local and international rights groups, especially the five found guilty and sentenced to six years in jail in February for allegedly harming the Region’s security.
