FRANCE 24 English published this video item, entitled “Press freedom in Iraq: Why some journalists are receiving death threats” – below is their description.
This week marks one year since hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Iraq to call for the removal of the country’s ruling elite. The deadly rallies led to the resignation of then-prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. Today, it’s not just the protest movement that’s under threat. Some media outlets have been shut down, while a number of journalists have been detained or even received death threats. We’re joined from Erbil by Hiwa Osman to hear about his experience of working as a journalist in Baghdad covering those protests and why he had to flee the capital.
FRANCE 24 English YouTube Channel
Got a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.
About This Source - FRANCE 24 English
The video item below is a piece of English language content from France 24. France 24 is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris.
France is a republic and the largest Western European nation. Through expansion and colonisation in the 17th and 18th centuries France became a great power and still retains territories around the world. It has a seat on the UN security council and is the world’s fourth most wealthy country with a high standard of living and strong cultural identity.
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakis, Armenians, Mandaeans, Circassians, Sabians and Kawliya. Around 99% of the country’s 38 million citizens are Muslims, with small minorities of Christians, Yarsans, Yezidis and Mandeans also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish.
Iraq has a coastline measuring 58 km (36 miles) on the northern Persian Gulf and encompasses the Mesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation.
Iraq is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 19 governorates, four of which make up the autonomous Kurdistan Region. Disputes over the sovereignty of Kurdistan Region continue.
Iraq is a founding member of the UN as well as of the Arab League, OIC, Non-Aligned Movement and the IMF.