Thursday, January 04, 2007
Government shuts down TV station
Media
Iraqi police forced their way into the closed offices of Sharqiya television following a government decision to shut down the station. Sharqiya is the most widely viewed television in Iraq and until the government decision to have its offices closed it had access to terrestrial broadcasting inside the country. The breaking into the network’s offices in Baghdad came only two days after the execution of former leader Saddam Hussein.
The move is apparently part of a campaign Nouri al-Maliki’s government to wage a war on free media and particularly Sharqiya and its other sister media outlets like Azzaman newspaper, the country’s largest distribution daily.
The move is apparently part of a campaign Nouri al-Maliki’s government to wage a war on free media and particularly Sharqiya and its other sister media outlets like Azzaman newspaper, the country’s largest distribution daily.
Sharqiya sparked government’s fury when it documented how militias aligned to it were directly involved in the death squads that have been terrorizing the people of Baghdad. The network produced evidence that the government itself was a culprit in the atrocities these squads were perpetrating.
The closure of the network’s offices is likely to curtail its comprehensive coverage of Iraq as Sharqiya had correspondents and cameras placed across the country. But the decision is not going to silence the station as it broadcasts from outside the country. A statement issued by the network said Sharqiya will continue “adherence to its national path which represents all Iraqis without exception and without exclusion.”
The statement described the network’s closure and the storming of its offices in Baghdad “as part of an organized campaign to prevent the flow of information and reject the other opinion.” Sharqiya is also known among Iraqis for its philanthropic activities which include, among other things, assistance to vulnerable groups for treatment outside Iraq and help with housing and education. The statement promised the beneficiaries that the network will honor all its commitments despite the closure of its offices in the country.
The closure of the network’s offices is likely to curtail its comprehensive coverage of Iraq as Sharqiya had correspondents and cameras placed across the country. But the decision is not going to silence the station as it broadcasts from outside the country. A statement issued by the network said Sharqiya will continue “adherence to its national path which represents all Iraqis without exception and without exclusion.”
The statement described the network’s closure and the storming of its offices in Baghdad “as part of an organized campaign to prevent the flow of information and reject the other opinion.” Sharqiya is also known among Iraqis for its philanthropic activities which include, among other things, assistance to vulnerable groups for treatment outside Iraq and help with housing and education. The statement promised the beneficiaries that the network will honor all its commitments despite the closure of its offices in the country.
