Iraq: Journalists: Iranian Regime Poses a Threat on Freedom of Press and Speech in Iran

Erbil-Iraq 23/11/2020

Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan pointed out that Iran’s death sentence against the dissident journalist Rouhollah Zam only indicates that freedom of the press, which usually slams the Iranian regime, has reached an alarming level. They also indicated that Iran and Iraq are the two faces of the same coin when it comes to repressing freedom of the speech and press. The irrefutable proof is that journalists from central and south Iraq come to live in Kurdistan given the freedom of speech it enjoys. Rouhollah Zam was found guilty of “corruption on earth, based on what he has published on his online news channel on the messaging app Telegram, as he reached 1.8 million followers. The activist was accused of fueling demonstrations that took streets between 2017 and 2018, and charges of spying for foreign entities.