PUK Media Board: Arrest Order Against Channel 8 Violates Law and Press Rights

PUKMEDIA

Headquarters of the Media Board of the PUK.

The Media Board of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's (PUK) Media and Awareness Office has issued a statement regarding a decision by the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Minister of Interior to issue arrest warrants for the director of Channel 8 and one of the channel's prominent journalists.

The statement described the decision as a violation of existing laws, an interference in media affairs, and a breach of the Kurdistan Region's Press Law.

The board called on all relevant authorities to prevent the implementation of the decision and to adhere to the legal frameworks that guarantee press freedom and protect the rights of journalists.

The statement said: "The order issued by the Minister of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government to arrest the director of Channel 8 and one of the channel's prominent journalists is both surprising and deeply concerning. On the one hand, it contradicts the Kurdistan Region's Press Law No. 35 of 2007, and on the other, it violates the regulations of the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate, which stipulate that a journalist may not even be summoned before legal authorities without the presence of a representative of the syndicate, let alone be subjected to an arrest warrant."

The statement further argued that the decision represented a new attempt to silence journalists who report on corruption cases and administrative shortcomings.

It added that the move came at a time when certain media outlets in Erbil, which it said operate closely with the Interior Minister, were engaged in what it described as daily campaigns of misinformation, attacks and unjustified defamation targeting Sulaymaniyah and its surrounding areas.

According to the statement, the Interior Minister's decision constitutes a violation of the laws and regulations governing journalistic work in the Kurdistan Region and exceeds the authority of both the judiciary and the Ministry of Culture.

"It appears to be more of a partisan decision than a governmental one," the statement said.

The PUK Media Board expressed concern that the decision could restrict media freedom and called on the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate and civil society organisations to speak out against what it described as a violation of journalists' rights, urging to take the necessary steps to prevent the implementation of such decisions.



PUKMEDIA