Iraqi soldiers detain, abuse journalist – JFO

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The head of the Journalistic Freedom Observatory (JFO) on Saturday called on the Iraqi Defense Ministry to investigate why journalists have been repeatedly abused by its servicemen, after a TV director from Al-Watan satellite station was abused. “Director Bacim Hafodh Mohammed was going to work when a force from the ministry stopped him on al-Jumhoriya Bridge in Baghdad, at 12:30 p.m. last Thursday,” Hadi Chilaw Maraee told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The force demanded that Mohammed show his ID,” Maraee said. “Despite the fact that Mohammed showed his press credentials, the force did not allow him to pass,” he added. “When Mohammed tried to ask why, he was beaten by the force, and then taken to the Defense Ministry’s building in the Green Zone,” he noted. “At the Defense Ministry, Mohammed was detained in a trash room, and was beaten again by a number of soldiers,” he explained. “Mohammed was interrogated, was required to take off his clothes and shoes, and his two cell phones were confiscated,” he proceeded. Maraee said that the soldiers demanded that Mohammed sign a blind paper as a condition for his release, and that he should not speak about his detention to any media sources. MH (S)/SR 1