An Iraqi news website based in the southern city of Nasiriya is facing legal charges and a fine of 2 million Iraqi dinars after it published a report featuring citizens criticizing the quality of local services, an Iraqi media watchdog writes in Arabic.

In a statement released today, the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) condemns the legal charges that it says were brought by the municipality of Nasiriya against the website Nasiriya News Net (NNN), after it published a story on its website citing local residents who complained over the lack of municipal services in the city.

The NNN site administrators told JFO that engineers in Nasiriya municipality brought legal complaints before a court in the city demanding that NNN pay two million Iraqi dinars (about 2,000 US dollars) after publishing citizens’ complaints over the condition of public services, the Iraqi press freedom advocacy group writes.

NNN administration told JFO that the network received an official letter from the court informing it of the charges and fines.

Nasiriya News Net is an Iraqi news website founded in 2003 based in the city of Nasiriya, the capital of Dhi Qar province.