  Freedom of the Press 2012 - Iraq  Publisher Freedom House
Publication Date 29 October 2012 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom
of the Press 2012 - Iraq, 29 October 2012, available
at: [accessed 12 March 2014]  2012 Scores  Press Status: Not
Free Press Freedom Score: 69 Legal Environment: 23 Political
Environment: 30 Economic Environment: 16  The revolutions and
uprisings that swept much of the Middle East in 2011 barely
touched Iraq, but with several journalists killed and continuing
violence against media workers, the country remained one of the
world's most dangerous places for reporters. Iraq's constitution
protects freedoms of speech and expression, but authorities
continue to use the 1969 penal code to prosecute journalists for
a variety of offenses, including libel and defamation. In 2010,
the Supreme Judicial Council created a special court to
prosecute journalists, despite a ban on the creation of special
courts in Article 95 of the constitution. A new law passed in
August 2011 established protections fo