Press Release

The syndicate must know the difference between licensing and registration

Metro Center The measures to ban the media in Zakho district are contrary to the provisions of Law No. (35) of 2007, the Journalism Law as the necessary measures and conditions for publishing newspapers, which is "registration" not "licensing".

"We will not allow any media outlet or page to work as a journalist without a license," the head of the Zakho office of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate told Rudaw.

The law requires the concessionaire or its founder to publish a statement in two daily newspapers in the region, which includes the name, title, citizenship, place of residence of the concessionaire or founder, the name of the newspaper and the language in which it is published, as well as include the name of the editor and the date of publication. The announcement is considered the morning of the newspaper's publication.

This procedure is considered an employment statement he files with the journalists' Syndicate, rather than going to get a "license” from the Syndicate.

The Zakho office of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate has the right to request that those pages that have their own reporters and logos register with the syndicate, not to ban them because the law does not give them that authority.

Metro Center The measures to ban the media in Zakho district are contrary to the provisions of Law No. (35) of 2007, the Journalism Law as the necessary measures and conditions for publishing newspapers, which is "registration" not "licensing".

According to the provisions of Law No. 35 of 2007, the Kurdistan Journalism Law, "Journalism is free and uncensored and freedom of expression and publication is guaranteed to all citizens, within the framework of respecting the rights and freedoms of individuals."