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Tuesday, 16 June 2020
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  • Freedom of Expression in Iraq

    Dhikra Sarsam is a founding member of Burj Babel for Media Development Organization, and has fought tirelessly for years as a civil society activist to improve rights protection in Iraq, including through lobbying parliament for improved legislation.





    Haitham Sulaiman, 48, is a protest movement organizer in Muthana governorate who on April 6, 2020 in a Facebook post called on the Muthana governor to investigate allegations of corruption within the health department. A day later Ministry of Interior intelligence officers came to his home while he was out and warned his family that he should stop writing about corruption. On April 10, four men in civilian dress arrested him and took him to the Muthana intelligence office where they beat him and forced him to sign a document stating that the Iraqi protest movement had been bankrolled by the United States. Authorities later charged him under the Penal Code for willfully sharing false or biased information that endangered public security. He is currently still being charged.
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    Iraq Freedom of Expression: Haitham Sulaiman