ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi Communications and Media Commission suspended the US government-funded Alhurra news outlet for three months on Monday, following an investigation the Arabic-language news service aired that targeted apparent corruption among Iraq’s Islamic clergy.
Iraq’s media regulatory body accused Alhurra media agency of dissing "respected religious figures" and not caring about the beliefs and feelings of the Iraqi people.
“The actions angered the Iraqi public,” said the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission in a statement.
As part of the Al-Hurra investigative series, the channel aired a video entitled “The Characters of Sanctimonious Corruption in Iraq” on Sunday.
The investigative short documentary heavily focused on alleged nepotism and rampant corruption among Iraq’s highest religious echelons, from both the Shiite and Sunni Muslim authorities, both of which own large swaths of land.
“Efforts to uncover the corrupt deals and trespassing taking place inside the Endowment Institutions on the part of religious characters or media platforms usually get wrapped up in secret compromises and deals,” says the video's voice-over.
Iraq’s clergy is highly respected by some segments of the population.
The video was not welcomed among Iraq’s political leadership.
“The time has come for state authorities to play their role in activating the codes of professional behavior practiced in satellite channels and bring under control the media space to stop abusing the state institutions and religious institutions without checking accuracy or facts, with preserving the freedom of publication and the rights of a free national media,” Iraq’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi said in a statement on Sunday evening.
“Employing cheap methods by some media platforms in attacking the religious institutions without evidence or proof is nothing but the implementation of a mysterious project that aims to abuse the feelings of millions of Muslims inside and outside Iraq,” said head of the opposition Hikmah Movement Ammar al-Hakeem, who comes from a prominent family of Shiite religious leaders.
Hassan Salem, and Iraqi member or parliament from the Sadiqun bloc, which belongs to the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, called al-Hurra an “American, Zionist” agent channel that “lacks any honor or free media”.
“We call for protests of denouncement to be held at the headquarters of the channel to close it because it is one of the channels that airs the poisons of sedition and slander,” said Salem.
The criticisms were taken seriously by Iraq’s official agency overseeing licensing and regulation of communications.
“The Communication and Media Commission is following the reactions that came out concerning a program aired by al-Hurra channel, in which it abused the religious institution in Iraq,” the Communication and Media Commission (CMC) said in another statement on Sunday.
In a statement released on Monday night, al-Hurra Iraq held its ground, claiming that its report was “a fair, professional and balanced” investigation.
The channel claimed it gave those mentioned in their reports “enough time and opportunity” to respond, but none did.
“The channel’s management affirms that the door is still open for relevant individuals and institutions to respond to the content of the investigations,” the statement said.
“In light of political, economic and social challenges the region is facing, there is a true need more than any other time for transparency and integrity in media coverage,” the channel added.
Iraq’s religious authorities, particularly those from the Shiite branch of Islam, hold great sway in the country. In 2014, when the Islamic State (ISIS) swept across Iraq, it was the fatwa, or religious decree, of Ayatollah Sistani, the highest Shiite authority in Iraq, that led to thousands of Iraqi youth mobilizing to fight ISIS.
Iraq is a majority Shiite Muslim country, with minorities of Sunni Muslims, Christians, Yezidis and other groups, as well as non-believers.
Updated at 9:05pm
Mohammed Rwanduzy and Lawk Ghafuri contributed translation
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