Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent arrests of journalists in the Iraqi Kurdistan region; and if he will make representations to his counterparts in the Kurdish Regional Government on the release of those journalists.

We are aware of reports concerning the detention and convictions of journalists in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and are following the situation closely. A free and independent media is essential to functioning societies. We condemn acts of intimidation against journalists and media organisations, and the suppression of information.

I have raised and continue to raise my concerns over restrictions on media freedom in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq with the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani. In the last few weeks, our Ambassador in Baghdad, and our Consul General in Erbil, has also discussed these issues with their interlocutors in the Kurdistan Regional Government.