|
|
 |
Iraqi Authorities Close Down Two Sunnite TV Channels
Iraqi authorities ordered to close down two Sunnite TV channels on Sunday, according to AP. Channels Al-Zawraa and Salahuddin were punished for “violating the curfew and for inciting violence”. It was in those terms that Iraqi government defined the news transmitted by those channels. The news criticized the death penalty verdict for Saddam Hussein. On November 5, Hussein was found guilty of killing 148 Shiite people in Dujail village and sentenced to hanging.
According to Iraq’s law, any comments in mass media that incite hatred or call for violence are breaching the anti-terrorism law.
It is not the first time when Iraqi authorities prohibit TV broadcasting for some channels. In September 2006, Iraq’s government ordered to suspend the broadcasting of Al-Arabia TV channel for a month. The channel’s broadcasting had been previously suspended in November 2003.
In August 2004, Baghdad office of Qatar satellite channel Al-Jazeera was closed on the charges of inciting violence. The office is still closed, but Al-Jazeera continues broadcasting in northern Iraq where Kurds live.
www.kommersant.com
|
|
|
