TV studio shut down for "incitement to violence" after showing footage of Saddam mourners

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the closure of the Baghdad studios of privately-owned satellite TV al-Charkiya, which was accused of “inciting sectarian violence” for showing footage of Iraqis mourning the death of former president Saddam Hussein. The announcement of his execution and the broadcast of footage of his hanging produced sharply different reactions in the Iraqi media. Some, particularly state-owned publications, celebrated the death of the “tyrant”, while others lamented his death. “We are very concerned by the attitude of the Nuri al-Maliki government which is imposing more and more restrictions on the press,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “The authorities should show more restraint so that pluralism of news and information remains a reality in Iraq.” The interior ministry decided on 1st January 2007 to shut down the offices of the al-Charkiya, in the capital's Yarmuq neighbourhood for “incitement to sectarian violence” and “to hatred”. The same day the channel had showed film of several demonstrations opposed to the execution of Saddam Hussein, in Bagdad, Tikrit (province in which the president was born) and in the Jordanian capital, Amman, where his daughter, Raghad Hussein, lives. Elsewhere, presenters on public al-Iraqiya condemned “Iraqi and Arab TV channels showing sympathy for the tyrant Saddam Hussein”. Al-Charkiya is still broadcasting from its studios in Dubai and Amman. The Iraqi authorities already ordered the closure, on 5 November 2006, of TV stations al-Zaura and Salah-Eddin for showing footage of demonstrators brandishing pictures of the former president and protesting at his death sentence. Both stations were accused of inciting sectarian violence and have still not been allowed to resume broadcasting. Elsewhere, Reporters Without Borders has learned of the murder, on 29 December 2006, of the journalist Akil Sarhan, of sports TV channel al-Riyadia (member of the Iraqi media Network). His car was attacked by an armed group as he drove to work and he was killed on the spot. His assailants escaped.