PM:09:05:02/11/2025
300 View
+
-
The Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy strongly condemned the decision by the authorities to suspend NRT’s Taw u Twe program featuring Shaswar Abdulwahid Qadir, after a force from the Interior Ministry arrived at NRT headquarters and halted the planned broadcast on Sunday evening.
Metro Center said that dozens of convicted individuals, including drug traffickers and murderers, have been interviewed from prison in the past without any interference. However, when NRT planned to air an interview with Shaswar Abdulwahid, the Ministry of Culture warned the channel that if the program was broadcast, NRT would be forcibly shut down.
"Dozens of convicted drug traffickers and murderers of women have been interviewed in prison, but the Ministry of Culture says that if you broadcast Shaswar Abdulwahid’s program, we will close your channel and stop it by force,” the Metro Center said in its statement.
The organization questioned the motives and legality behind the government’s action, asking:
"You didn’t close it in Erbil or Sulaimanyah — you burned it. It didn’t lose its strength; it still grew. Are these ministries guided by parliamentary law or by party law?”
Metro Center described the decision as a serious violation of freedom of the press and a clear example of political interference aimed at silencing independent media outlets. It called on authorities to respect the constitution and end the use of intimidation against journalists and broadcasters.