The capital Baghdad hosted, today, Monday, a specialized training course organized by UNESCO, entitled "Freedom of the Press and Judicial and Criminal Prosecutions", within the framework of the Breaking the Silence Project to enhance government accountability and judicial procedures for the safety of journalists and combat impunity.' The official of the Communication and Information Sector at UNESCO Iraq, Dhiaa Sobhi, told the correspondent of the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /, "We seek through this two-day course, within the context of the Breaking the Silence Project to enhance legal accountability and judicial procedures for the safety of journalists and combat impunity, funded by the Dutch Embassy, to enhance legal culture and strengthen the empowerment of journalists in the tools that protect them from legal and judicial prosecutions." He explained, "In the past two years, the rate of legal and judicial prosecutions against journalists has increased, and there are hundreds of lawsuits filed again st them. Therefore, there has become an obsession for journalists and media professionals after publishing a report or journalistic material, to be subject to being summoned in any court or any security agency due to publishing that report or the content he wrote on his page on social networking sites. This is a major problem that imposes self-censorship on journalists today." He added, "If there is self-censorship on journalists, this means that freedom of expression is sick and has a defect that it suffers from. Therefore, UNESCO seeks to put dot on the letters through a training program that includes judges, representatives of the Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Interior, and some other bodies, and in the presence of journalists, so that we can all identify the means that ensure that the journalist reaches it, even if he is prosecuted. However, there are standards that must be implemented by the publishing and media courts throughout Iraq." He continued, "We seek to spread this culture among all parties concerned with the equation of freedom of expression, "journalist, media professional, activist, blogger, content creator, and the three authorities, legislative, executive, and judicial." He added, "We have a legislative absence, as the journalistic and media community seeks to bridge this gap and reach emerging legislation that helps it protect itself and reach a guaranteed right to freedom of expression and access to information," indicating that "these parties have previously listened to these opinions and we have common understandings with them, and the publishing and media courts and the Freedom of Expression Judges Council were established in the Supreme Judicial Council, and we seek to establish technical units and teams in the publishing courts to help examine content and digital evidence to reach sound and accurate results." The course aims to enhance freedom of the press and support journalists in performing their professional duty, as well as help journalists who are subject to legal pro secutions and problems as a result of restrictions on freedom of expression. The course, which is lectured by a group of judges, legal experts, representatives of government agencies, and journalists, focuses on providing participants with the legal knowledge and tools necessary to defend the rights of journalists and confront the challenges they face. It will also provide an opportunity to communicate with colleagues and experts in the field to discuss the best ways to ensure safety, security and protection for journalists in Iraq. Source: National Iraqi News Agency
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