Karbala A group of Karbala journalists complained that information and data were withheld from them, related to service issues, by the local government.

They said in a statement, a copy of which was received by the Iraqi Observatory for Journalistic Freedoms of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate: “We are a group of journalists from the holy Karbala governorate, working in various media, we record our strong rejection of the practices followed by the governorate administration in withholding information from us and excluding us from attending meetings, conferences and sessions that discuss issues serving the citizens of the governorate and its visitors, the last of which was related to the visit of the Arbaeen of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), as all information and data related to the plans of the visit were withheld and public opinion was prevented, especially the service plans, their funds, disbursement mechanisms and other information that does not harm public security and the interest of the country.

The journalists considered / according to the statement / the order: “a restriction and prevention for us from practicing our work, which granted us the right to practice the Journalists’ Rights Law of 2011 in accordance with Article 6 of it, which stipulates that the journalist has the right to access reports, information and official data, and the concerned authority must enable journalist to access them and benefit from them, unless its disclosure constitutes a harm to public order and contravenes the provisions of the law.

They demanded the administration of the Holy Karbala Governorate, and the directors of all its government departments, to respect the constitution and the law and freedom of the press and expression, and to facilitate their access to information and data and to attend meetings and public conferences, to practice their journalistic work

Source: National Iraqi News Agency