Kurdish Authorities Free Journalist
Al-Mashriq is published daily by Al-Mashriq Institution for Media and Cultural Investments.
Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq freed the journalist and writer Kamal Sayed Qader, a (Kurdish Iraqi) who holds the Austrian citizenship, after sentencing him to 30 years in prison. A Kurdish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Kurdistan Democratic Party's government, headed by Masood Barazani decided to free Qader. He was imprisoned after criticising Kurdish officials and writing about corruption and nepotism in Kurdistan. Intellectuals, human rights organizations and Kurdish journalists helped free Qader by pressuring the Kurdistan government.