11 May 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Hundreds of university students assaulted a local parliament building in Erbil, the capital of Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdistan region on 10 May. The students were taking part in an angry protest against the abduction and killing of Kurdish student and journalist Zardasht Osman. Protesters, many of them dressed in black, marched from the spot where Osman was abducted to the parliament building. They accused security and intelligence forces of being behind the killing. A similar protest will be held on Wednesday in Sulaimaniya.
07 May 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Freelance journalist Sardasht Osman was found dead yesterday in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Osman, who was abducted on 5 May, had been tortured and shot twice. His family believe he was targeted because of a critical article he wrote about a high-ranking Klocal official. Osman’s brother, Bashdar told CPJ “In the last few months my brother received a number of phone threats, demanding that he stop meddling in government affairs”. Earlier this week, Reporters Sans Frontières accused the two parties that control the region — the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan — of creating a “tacit strategic accord” to restrict press freedom.
26 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
The editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper al-Shahid, Saad al-Aossi, was abducted on 14 April. Armed men invaded his home, confiscated his computer and took him to an unknown location. There have been local reports that the men were from the police and the military, though Baghdad Operations Command issued a statement denying any involvement in his disappearance. His kidnapping came six days after he wrote an article condemning Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a lack of transparency.
14 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
The head of public relations at Iraq’s Al-Rasheed satellite TV station was injured by a car-bomb on 13 April, which took both of his legs and seriously injured two others. Omar Ibrahim Al-Jabouri’s car exploded in Doura, a suburb of Baghdad. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
