Press association “deeply concerned” about fine against Kurdish paper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Association to Defend Journalists’ Rights has expressed its “deep concern” about the fine imposed on a Kurdish newspaper for publishing an article that allegedly attacks Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani. “The association expresses its deep concern about the continuous use of the so-called ‘Criminal Defamation Law’ that was inherited from the former regime against the mass media,” according to a statement released by the association and received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The Kurdish Hawlati newspaper has been fined 10 million Iraqi dinars by the Criminal Court in Sulaimaniya city and its former editor-in-chief, Abd Aaref, 3 million ID for “defamation.” The newspaper has appealed against the court’s decision. In its issue number 386 of January 13, 2008, the newspaper published a translated report by American journalist Michael Robin in which he claimed that Talabani has a fortune of $400 million. SS (P) 1