Iraqi Kurdistan: Pregnant journalist attacked by the security forces

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate (KJS) today condemned an attack by the security forces against a pregnant journalist.

Rengin Shero, working for the Kurdish online newspaper Rudaw Media, was brutally attacked on 22 September by the security forces after crossing the Iraqi-Syrian border.

She was crossing in to Syria to visit her family and had followed all the required procedures at the border. As the border officials let her enter, she was picked up by her father but when they arrived at the local bus station the security forces beat and humiliated her, despite knowing she was pregnant.

The KJS has demanded full protection for journalists and that a committee should be established to oversee an investigation in to the escalation of attacks on journalists.

IFJ President, Philippe Leruth, said, “We are horrified that our colleague has been brutally beaten, especially as she was pregnant. The soldiers who assaulted her are known and must be punished, the Kurdistan Regional Government must not allow the region to become a safe haven for those who attack journalists.” 


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