SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A court in Erbil once again delayed a trial for activist Berivan Ayub who has been detained since October 2020, her lawyer said on Monday.
The Erbil criminal court postponed the hearing until further notice, her lawyer told reporters. Her first trial was on February 14 but was delayed to Feb. 28.
“The trial of the female activist was delayed with no given reason,” the lawyer said.
The head of Erbil criminal court-2 requested the delay of the hearing, according to the lawyer.
The activist is accused of disrupting the Kurdistan Region’s security, but “evidence is weak”, her lawyer said.
She has been in jail without a trial since October 13, 2020, according to the Christian Peacemaker Teams-Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Kurdish security forces detained dozens of journalists and activists in Duhok in 2020 over espionage and allegedly undermining national security in the Kurdistan Region.
In February 2021, Erbil criminal court sentenced journalists Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebari and Ayaz Karam as well as activists Shvan Omer and Hariwan Issa to six years in prison on national security charges.
