ERBIL,— Authorities linked to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraqi Kurdistan closed a television channel owned by opposition politician Shaswar Abdulwahid on Wednesday.
Abdulwahid, a former prisoner, leads the New Generation Movement NGM (Cûłanewey Newey Nwê), which opposes the region’s two main political parties.
Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw said the closure was ordered by the Kurdistan Region’s public prosecutor and started with the NRT media office in Erbil.
The governor said a complaint had been filed against NRT for “insulting national symbols,” but he did not provide further information about who lodged the complaint or the details of the allegations.
Khoshnaw emphasized that the decision was not politically motivated.
While Iraqi Kurdistan presents itself as a stable region, human rights groups and activists regularly report restrictions on press freedom, arbitrary arrests of journalists, and limits on protests.
Shaswar Abdulwahid, a businessman-turned-politician, founded the NGM in 2017. The party has positioned itself as the main opposition to the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Abdulwahid has been detained several times since launching the party and was released in January after serving several months in a defamation case.
Srwa Abdulwahid, Shaswar’s sister and head of the NGM parliamentary bloc, said the KDP is “repressing” independent media and only supports outlets loyal to the authorities.
The METRO Centre for Press Freedom in Kurdistan condemned the shutdown.
“Authorities are unable to deal properly with the media and journalists, and they are afraid of their work,” Diyar Mohamed, the center’s director, told AFP.
The KDP, led by the Barzani family, controls the governorates of Erbil and Duhok.
NRT offices have been closed multiple times in the past, even before Abdulwahid entered politics.
Critics have often accused the KDP of limiting freedom of speech and prosecuting prominent Kurdish journalists.
(With files from AFP)
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