Three days after Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert condemned the acts of violence against peaceful protesters and defended the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of speech in her briefing in New York, Baghdad witnessed another bloody night on Friday after armed men attacked one of Baghdad's protest centers, leaving at least 23 dead, according to police and medical sources.
Hennis-Plasschaert condemned the deliberate killing of unarmed protesters by armed elements, calling it an "atrocity against the people of Iraq." She also called for the perpetrators to be identified and brought to justice without delay.