Unprecedented civil society demonstration in defence of press freedom

Hundreds of journalists, academics, performers, politicians and ordinary Iraqis staged an unprecedented demonstration today on Moutanabi Street, in Baghdad's old quarter, in solidarity with journalist Ahmed Abd Al-Hussein of the newspaper Al-Sabah, who has been the target of death threats from a Shiite political party. Called by the Journalistic Freedom Observatory, the demonstration was covered by local and international media. The organisers said they were protesting against all attempts to manipulate or intimidate the media by security forces, political parties and militias, and that they were proclaiming their determination to resist any deterioration in press freedom and free expression in Iraq. In a release, they called on the authorities to adhere to Iraq's 2005 constitution, which guarantees basic freedoms. “We reiterate our support for Ahmed Abd Al-Hussein, who is being threatened because of his views,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We support this peaceful protest and the journalists who are fighting for the right to work in a safe and decent environment. We hope that his demonstration, one of the important ones to be held since 2003, will bear fruit.” The press freedom organisation added: “We will continue to closely monitor discussion of a bill for the protection of journalists that is due to be examined by parliament next month. This proposed law is more than necessary and we have already shared our observations on the subject with House of Representatives speaker Ayad Al-Samarrai.” An Iraqi journalist who took part in today's demonstration, Mohammed Al-Joubouri, said: “This day has been a relaunching of the press and journalists in Iraq. We call on the government to intercede on behalf of those who are victims of the political process. As a real danger threatens journalists, the government should speed approval of the law that will protect them in order to guarantee freedom of thought and expression without restrictions or controls.” Joubouri also said journalists were opposed to the government's declared intention to place restrictions on online and print media as they would violate journalists' freedom to work. A statement issued at the end of the demonstration called for: - Respect for the Iraqi constitution, especially article 38 concerning freedom of thought and expression - Abolition of censorship of print and online media - Respect for journalists doing their work and a ban on violence against journalists by the security forces and by all kinds of security services. See the 11 June release about the threats against Ahmed Abd Al-Hussein: http://www.rsf.org/Hate-campaign-by-Shiite-party.html