Kurdish news outlet linked to opposition party remains closed in Iraq
The Kurdistan Regional Government says NRT's coverage of protests encouraged people to violate anti-coronavirus measures, but journalists say the closure is a violation of press freedom.
The media landscape in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq includes both party-affiliated news outlets and independent outlets.
Nalia Radio and Television — better known as NRT — could be labeled opposition media. Its founder, Shaswar Abdulwahid, heads the New Generation Movement political party. NRT regularly covers protests, corruption and other controversial issues, and often takes aim at the Kuridstan Regional Government (KRG) and the region's two leading parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The outlet’s critical coverage of the KRG has led to a crackdown. On Sept. 16, NRT presenter Shwan Adil was arrested and released on bail in the city of Sulaimaniyah. Adil is being sued by a senior member of the PUK, the second largest in the Kurdistan Region, for defamation.
In the region’s capital Erbil and the city of Dahuk, NRT’s offices have been closed since August.
