Defense lawyers speak to reporters on November 8, 2021 (NRT Digital Media)Presidency of Appellate Court Erbil Region building (File)
AM:11:41:08/11/2021
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SULAIMANI — Four
activists from Duhok governorate were controversially sentenced to prison terms by a court in
Erbil on Monday (November 8), defense lawyer Bashdar Hassan said.
Hassan told NRT that
the defendants were convicted of Article 1 of Law No. 2, a national security statute passed by the Kurdistan Parliament in 2003 involving accusations of sabotaging the
security of the Kurdistan Region and spying. It is an update of Article 156 of the Iraqi Penal Code.
All four proclaimed their
innocence of the charges.
It is the same statute used to convict three journalists and two activists from Duhok in February, which sparked outrage from human rights activists and foreign governments.
Kargar Abas and
Bandawar Ayub were sentenced to one year and two months, Sherwan Taha to two years
and three months, and Masud Ali to three years and six months.
The four have been in
pre-trial detention for more than a year, so Abas and Ayub will likely be
released soon based on time served.
"The case was totally
political,” Hassan said, adding that prosecutors were able to add alleged
evidence to the case file despite the period for presenting new information
having closed, which prevented the defense from being able to dispute it.
Dozens of journalists
and activists were arrested by the local security forces, which are affiliated
with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), last year in a crackdown on displays
of public criticism of the authorities. The defendants were accused of being
involved in protests in the summer of 2020.
Several other of the
detainees have been controversially convicted and sentenced, while dozens of
others remain in pre-trial detention without charge or any scheduled trial.
Ali’s father told
reporters that "a crime is being committed against these guys only because they
are not members of KDP.”
"There is no proof
against them,” he added.
In tears, Ali’s son told NRT that he had not his father in more than a year.
"My sister can’t come here because she crying too much and my grandmother might die if she hears about this,” he added.
New Generation Movement lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament Sipan Amedi, who attended the trial, told NRT that "these activists are sentenced without any proof. It is clear that the court has taken a political side.”
The trials of the
Duhok journalists and activists have damaged the Kurdistan Region’s reputation
for relative respect for human rights and brought criticism about political
interference with the judiciary.
(NRT Digital Media)
This story was updated at 12:00 p.m.