shafaq news :The Office of the Coordinator for International Advocacy shared a statement today, after the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called to reject the Kurdistan attorney's general recommendation to close NRT.

The statement, received by Shafaq news agency, stressed that the lawsuit against NRT, "is far from being politicized", indicating that, "The lawsuit has been filed by the Attorney General because of a potential threat to public health".

The statement said that NRT, "Violated the regulations issued by the ministry of culture", as it has launched, "an intense campaign" to undermine the impact of Covid-19 outbreak on the public health and ignored the warnings of the ministry to, " soften their rhetoric that incentivized hundreds of people to not abide by the protective regulations issued by the government".

The international advocacy office stressed that, "the recommendation of the Attorney General would not be automatically enforced", and that, " The Ministry of Culture and the other relevant departments in the government are currently evaluating the situation". The statement ruled out the possibility of permanently closing NRT. However, it may be temporarily closed for a short period of time, which is, " measure subject to a consultation, currently in process, between the Ministry of Culture, the Kurdistan Journalists' Syndicate, the Judicial Authority and the Attorney General".

" KRG firmly believes in the freedom of expression, and considers this value as the main pillar of a consolidated democratic system", the statement continues, " KRG has no intentions to close any TV station and media outlet, including NRT".

It is noteworthy that CPJ shared a statement entitled "Iraqi Kurdistan Attorney General Calls for Closure of NRT Broadcaster", that called for the rejection of the Attorney General's recommendation letter to the Ministry of Culture and KRG authorities. The AG's recommendation was issued after NRT ignored several warnings from the ministry of culture to ease its campaign that underestimates the effect of Covid-19 on the Public health and motivates the audience not to adhere to the protective measures issued by the relevant authorities.