The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the one month jail term handed down to Shwan Daudi, Editor-in-Chief of Hawal Weekly by the Court of Suleymania in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on 4 November 2008. Daudi was being prosecuted for a four year old article that criticised the Kurdish courts in a lawsuit brought by one of the court's judges.

"This is a harsh sentence which is likely to set a dangerous precedent for the powerful to use against legitimate media scrutiny and public accountability" said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "We are astonished that it should come just weeks after the Kurdistan Assembly passed a new media law that was supposed to end jail terms for journalists crimes." Daudi, who was also fined 300.000 Iraqi dinars (210 euro),  has lodged an appeal which  is expected to be heard next week.

The Kurdistan Journalists' Syndicate (KJS) condemned the decision, as a violation of the new media law passed par the Kurdish National Assembly in September 2008 and signed into law last month. The new media law enshrined principles of press freedom, abandons the use of imprisonment and press bans against journalists and media.

The IFJ warned at the time of its adoption that, while a welcome development, the new law was open to abuse. The IFJ supports the KJS concerns about the lack of due process that has lead to a jail term in contravention of the new media law.,. "This is further proof that issues related to violations of ethics or contents of journalism are best addressed by industry's self-regulators and not government bodies," added White.

For more information contact the IFJ at + 32 2 235 2207

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide