News from Civsy, based on generative AI tools and retrieval-augumented real time data searchOn 25 September 2025, Iraqi novelist Rusly Al Maliki announced that his new book A Year of Decline had been informally banned from circulation after visits and phone calls from people claiming affiliation with the National Security Service. According to Al Maliki, these individuals did not present a written order or judicial decision, but instructed distributors that the book must not be sold or displayed.
The novel documents what the author describes as a year of deepening corruption, patronage and social deterioration in Iraq during 2024, touching sensitive issues such as party control over state institutions, economic mismanagement and the erosion of public trust. Within days of its release, the book reportedly disappeared from bookstores, was blocked from the Baghdad Book Fair and removed from local delivery platforms, effectively cutting it off from readers.
Informal Censorship without Judicial Review
Al Maliki has framed the intervention as an act of informal censorship that lacks any legal basis or transparent oversight. No court ruling, written ban, or formal seizure order has been made public; instead, the pressure appears to rely on verbal instructions from security-linked actors and the willingness of distributors to comply out of fear of consequences.
This method mirrors a broader trend in Iraq, where authorities and security institutions increasingly rely on opaque “guidance” to restrict books, television series and online content deemed politically sensitive or morally unacceptable. Such practices allow officials to control cultural production while avoiding documentation that might be challenged in court or cited in human rights reporting.
Contesting the Ban in the Digital Sphere
In response, Al Maliki publicly condemned the ban as illegal, emphasising that censorship of publications in Iraq must be grounded in law and subject to judicial review, not imposed through unwritten orders by security services. He issued an ultimatum: if the restrictions were not lifted by 26 September, he would publish A Year of Decline online free of charge so that readers could access the work directly.
By threatening to move the book into the digital domain, the author sought to reassert control over his work and challenge a censorship system that thrives on informality and fear. His stance also resonates with a wider pattern in Iraq, where journalists, writers and artists increasingly use social media and online distribution to document interference and to keep controversial works accessible despite pressure from security bodies and allied political actors.
A Symptom of Shrinking Cultural Space
The A Year of Decline case highlights how artistic freedom in Iraq is constrained not only by laws on “public morals” and “public security”, but also by discretionary power exercised away from courts and public scrutiny. When a novel on corruption and social decay can be silenced through informal bans, it sends a clear warning to other writers and publishers who might wish to address similar themes.
Informal censorship is tightening its grip on Iraq’s cultural field.
In September 2025, novelist Rusly Al Maliki reported that individuals claiming to represent the National Security Service had informally banned his new book A Year of Decline from circulation. Bookstores, the Baghdad Book Fair and delivery services were reportedly instructed, without any court order, to pull the title, which examines corruption and social deterioration in Iraq during 2024.
Al Maliki condemned the move as illegal and vowed to publish the book online for free if the ban was not lifted by 26 September. His case exposes how security-linked actors can silence political critique through opaque, extrajudicial means, far from judicial oversight.
Read our latest Mimeta Memos analysis on what this means for artistic freedom, informal censorship and the future of critical writing in Iraq.
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