By Dr. Amir Sharifi: An Open Letter My Last Column Dec 5, 2013. Dear readers, this is my last column! You may wonder why. If you had read my column, you would have known that I have been threatened, even beaten up once by ten hoodlums I have been the target of toxic smears and…
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Category Archives: Journalism
Kawa Germyani: From an Anfal survivor to a victim of free speech
By Aram J Sabir: Strange! Even Anfal didn’t teach anything to those freedom fighters of yesterday. As result of practicing self-governance after 1991, the political atmosphere in the Kurdistan region (KR) was different to other parts of Iraq. This paved the way for journalism to develop further in the KR than in other parts of…
Kawa’s widow gives birth to baby boy
KT News: Kawa Germyani’s widow Shereen has given birth to a baby boy at Kalar hospital this morning at 9.30 am local time. A crowd of supporters was waiting outside the hospital to support the family and Kawa’s brother told local reporters that mum and baby are fine. The baby boy will be called Amed, which…
We must ensure Kawa did not die in vain
By Mufid Abdulla: It was late night on 5th December, when one of our KT correspondents called to say that the young journalist, and editor of ‘Rayal’ magazine, Kawa Germyani had been murdered in front of his mother’s home. The details were still unclear but it struck me that this was the fourth journalist and…
Kawa’s ‘killers’ arrested: but who ordered the killing?
KT Report: Three days after anti-corruption journalist Kawa Germyani was murdered at his mother’s house, his alleged killers were arrested by the security forces. The investigation is ongoing. According to a report published in ‘Awene’ Newspaper (where Kawa worked as a correspondent), four out of five of the gang have been arrested, all of whom…
Murders of an ‘unknown’ kind in the ‘Other Iraq’
By Shenah Abdullah: You must have come across articles, books, blogs, advertisements, pictures and stories about the ‘Other Iraq’ where oil is ever flowing, the cities and towns are safe and secure, the people friendly and welcoming and the economy booming like never before under the leadership of the Kurdistan Regional Government—headed by Kurdish officials…
The nation is united in grief for our young journalist
By Mufid Abdulla: Kawa Germyani has left his mark on the south of Kurdistan in a way that few others have managed to do. His murder has plunged the whole nation into grief, as previously did the killings of Sardasht Osman and Soran Mama Hama. The life of this brave young journalist can become a…
Who was Kawa and why was he killed?
KT Report: Kawa Ahmed (also known as Kawa Germyani): assassinated at age 32, married since 2012, leaving a widow who is eight months pregnant. He was known for his anti-corruption investigative reports, particularly at a local level. Kawa was born into a poor family, and he lived in a small room with his wife. He…
South Kurdistan protests the murder of Kawa Garmyani
KT News: There were protests across South Kurdistan today (with the exception of Hawler) against the murder of journalist Kawa Garmyani who was gunned down outside his home in Kalar on Thursday night. About 1500 people joined the demonstration in Suli centre, which began at 1500 hours. Slogans included: ‘We won’t be silent’, ‘Murdering journalists…
Anti-corruption Kurdish journalist Kawa Garmyani murdered
KT News: South Kurdistan journalist Kawa Garmyani was shot dead outside his house in Kalar last night. Three days ago Kawa had announced on his Facebook page that he had documents relating to a corruption case that he was planning to write about in ‘Rayal’ magazine. Kawa was the editor of ‘Rayal’ and a correspondent…
Young Kurdish journalist murdered
KT News: Yakob Rasol Mohamed, a young journalist in the south of Kurdistan, was shot dead in front of his house in the town of Qalaidiza on Wednesday night (September 18th). The police have arrested a number of people but currently there are no details of anyone being charged. A group of local independent newspapers…
5 years on – still no justice for Soran Mama Hama
KT News and Comment: Lvinpress has issued a statement on the fifth anniversary of the murder in Kirkuk of its young journalist, Soran Mama Hama. Soran was shot dead outside his home on July 22 2008. His murder followed the threatening messages he received after writing for Lvinpress about official corruption, including an article about…
True journalism requires editorial values and policies
By Shivan Fazil: Kurdish media are everywhere these days. There all sorts of media: Party media, government media, shadow media and free independent media. However, despite of their aims and objectives, there are few professional Kurdish media outlets. Professional media requires talented graduates from media institutes and schools, but so far, this is not the…
Can the law protect journalists from unknown gunmen?
By Mohammed Hussein: On April 26, 2013, about 60 lawyers and journalists gathered to create a Net of Volunteer Lawyers to advocate journalism in Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq. This Net has been formed to assist journalists who plan to go to court to complain against people who attacked them, said Rahman Gharib, general…
Karzan Karim kept in jail after serving his sentence
KT News and Comment: Karzan Karim, an independent journalist who was working as a security officer at Erbil airport, was charged last year with divulging sensitive information to a third party and sentenced to two years imprisonment. Karim was jailed after the Kurdistan Post published articles in which he accused security agency authorities of corruption….
