He confirmed that there is high coordination with the Journalists Syndicate regarding freedom of opi

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[size=52]He confirmed that there is high coordination with the Journalists Syndicate regarding freedom of opinion issues....Judge of the Karkh Publishing Court: We dealt with about 30 files related to substandard content.[/size]

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06/05/2024
The judge in the Publishing and Information Court on the Karkh side, Amer Hassan, confirmed that there is high coordination with the Journalists Syndicate regarding freedom of opinion issues, while indicating that the court dealt with about 30 files related to substandard content.
Judge Hassan said in a televised interview: “Freedom of opinion is guaranteed by the Iraqi Constitution issued in 2005 in Article 38, which guarantees freedom of opinion and the press and freedom of work in this field.”
He added that “freedom of expression of opinion needs elements that work to consolidate and protect this freedom, including the presence of legislation that guarantees freedom of expression of opinion and defines frameworks and spaces for everyone who expresses his opinion, without being subject to legal accountability,” stressing, “the necessity of the need for legal legislation that protects It supports and consolidates freedom of expression of opinion, in addition to the need for strong institutions that work to implement these legislations and protect the expression of freedom of opinion, as well as the need to spread a culture of freedom of expression among citizens to express their opinions without fear.”
He explained that “the publishing and media courts were formed to protect freedom of expression of opinion, and everyone who attended those courts, whether on the Karkh side or in the rest of the appeals, felt that there was protection for their freedom.”
He continued, “The Supreme Judicial Council, out of its keenness to protect the freedoms and rights stipulated in the constitution, including the freedom to express opinion, took the initiative to form publishing and media courts in all governorates except the Kurdistan region.”
He pointed out that “there are 16 publishing and media courts in 16 appeals areas, working to create the appropriate environment for investigating cases raised against journalists, those who work in the field of media, or those who express their opinions in general.”
He continued by saying: “In the past, it was handled by ordinary courts and looked into by police stations. Therefore, out of the Supreme Judicial Council’s keenness to create a suitable environment for investigating journalists and media professionals; Because most of the cases that are raised against them are cases of opinion, and whoever will appear in court in an opinion case should not be treated like an accused person accused of murder, theft, etc.
He stated that “expressing opinion through social media has become the common form of expressing opinion, as it has appeared to us in what is called citizen journalism, which is a larger and broader press than the official media, and it also falls within the framework of freedom of expression of opinion, which is protected by the law and the constitution,” pointing out. To, “the vast majority of cases brought before us end up being closed at the investigation stage.”
He pointed out that “there is coordination with the Journalists Syndicate, which provided us with a group of experts in various media fields. In order to present to them cases and complaints to express their opinion, it is also possible for us to seek the assistance of experts outside the Journalists Syndicate, for example from media colleges in various Iraqi universities, as well as from people who have experience in the field of media and the field of freedom of expression of opinion, so that we can listen to their reports and seek help from their experience, which may The decisive factor lies in determining whether the act attributed to the person falls within the framework of freedom of expression.
He added, "The number of experts is unlimited, and it is subject to the authority of the court. If a single expert submits a report and any party to the lawsuit objects to this report, we resort to taking 3, 5, or 7 experts, depending on the nature of the invitation and what it requires."
He stressed “the importance of determining the priorities that must be worked on in the field of journalistic work, including in the field of media misinformation and the issue of false information that may be contained in various media outlets, as well as the issue of impunity, which are crimes to which journalists are exposed.”
Regarding degrading content, he explained that “degrading content refers to the crimes stipulated by Iraqi law in the section on crimes against public morals, and defined them as crimes that offend public modesty, and in the field of media it was termed degrading content.”
He pointed out that “a committee has been formed in the Ministry of Interior to monitor substandard content and submit its reports to the court, and the latter takes action in these cases in accordance with the legal texts.”
He stated that “the number of substandard content files that the court dealt with reached 30 files.”[/size]
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