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Other Baghdad journalists were afraid to appear on camera. In northern Kurdish areas, RT's Sebastian Meyer interviewed Ahmen, a photographer arrested for covering similar protests. Held for four days, he was tortured.
"....(S)ix men came to the room and started to shout at me and beat me with cables. Then they electrocuted me. They wanted me to admit that I hadn't been at the protests."
After release, a friend photographed his wounds and published them in a local magazine. Ahmed was again arrested and punished.
Afraid of reprisals, he requested his face be blurred in video footage and name changed.
In Baghdad, "government spokesman Ali Dabbagh (told) RT that" Iraqi officials suppress free press coverage, saying:
Press freedom "is not protected by the government. The government is against anything and you can see that there are people in the Ministry of the Interior, for example, they are misusing their power against citizens and against journalists. They keep accounts and some of them have been fired."
RT concluded saying that nearly nine years after America showed up, credible press freedom's absent. So is democratic governance without it.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at Email address removed .
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
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