The legal expert, Counselor Salem Hawas, said that organizing a specialized course on (press safety) on Saturday and Sunday by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, headed by Moayad Al-Lami, President of the Federation of Arab Journalists, and in cooperation with the International Federation of Journalists, , has a clear significance in establishing the legal awareness of the press, journalists and media professionals.
Hawass stressed in a statement: “The safety of journalists, media professionals, correspondents, and photographers is a requirement of specialized professional legal texts without exposure to any kind of physical or moral threats. Therefore, their safety is another legal requirement for the activities of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the field of safety of journalists.”
He explained: “The attribution and concern of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the promotion and protection of the actual enjoyment of all human rights and the guarantee of that right to freedom of expression, including freedom of the media and other rights of journalists and workers in the field of journalism and media, is nothing but an international and humanitarian cover for this intellectual and physical integrity as well as the protection of international charters.
Hawass said: “We must not forget the positions and decisions of the Supreme Judicial Council in responding to the Journalists’ Syndicate’s requests to form publishing and media courts since 2011 in the centers of the Courts of Appeal, specialized in examining complaints of journalists related to their journalistic work, and emphasizing the previous circulation regarding notifying the Journalists Syndicate of any complaint filed against journalists.”
He stressed that the laws and texts of the press, especially the provisions of Article 8 of the Journalists’ Rights Law, impermissible to hold a journalist accountable for what he expresses of press opinions or information or harm him because of it, and that whoever assaults a journalist is like someone who assaults an employee during duty in accordance with the provisions of Article 229 of the Penal Code, which amounts to imprisonment 3 years is nothing but a reinforcement of this safety.
He added, “Not holding the journalist accountable or arresting him except by a judicial decision and notifying the syndicate in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the above law and the body in which the journalist works for any complaint related to his work.. It is permissible for the president of the Journalists Syndicate or the head of the institution in which the journalist works to attend the interrogation, investigation and trial. Thanks to the Syndicate’s serious support for this important joint.
It is noteworthy that the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate announced, earlier today, the organization of a specialized course on (press safety) in cooperation with the International Federation of Journalists, on Saturday and Sunday, at its headquarters in Karradat Maryam area in central Baghdad.
The Syndicate called on satellite channels and the media to nominate (correspondent or reporter and photographer) for the purpose of participation and media coverage, and at the end of the specialized course the participants will be given a certificate of participation.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency