SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A lawyer in the city of Erbil said he had been kidnaped and vigorously tortured and humiliated by four gunmen after working as an advisor to a dossier related to a married couple.
“I was kidnaped by four gunmen, they beat me very ruthlessly after tying my hand behind,” said Mohammed Yaba, the lawyer.
Yaba’s brother who spoke via a press briefing on Saturday said, “The incident occurred late last night. My brother [Yaba] was captured for hours only because he had worked on a certain dossier.”
“He had been beaten with the buttstock of a rifle. His teeth are broken as a result and they shaved his head. The gunmen also threatened him by putting a knife on his neck,” He added.
He further explained that Yaba worked as an advisor in a dossier between a married couple, and he worked for the woman. He alleged that a man who is the husband of the woman has assaulted Yaba and is responsible for the incident.
“My brother [Yaba] did have hostility or feud with nobody. He had been attacked in front of his own house.”
He also plead to the government and Erbil officials to not allow the case to be “misled”, adding, Yaba was set free after the gunmen had intimidated him and obtained his pledge to not file a lawsuit against them.
The gunmen have threatened Yaba to not take any legal action otherwise his family members will be harmed or killed, according to Yaba’s brother’s words.
Further, Yaba separately stated the gunmen had recorded every moment when they were torturing and humiliating him.
According to Yaba’s words he had been allegedly threatened for two years by a man who is the husband of the woman. “People live in fear in Erbil.”
“I was only working as the lawyer to the woman and defended her in the legal bodies, it’s the court that decides, it’s the court decides who is rightful and who is not,” Yaba concluded.
Speaking in a press conference following Yaba’s words, Omed Khoshanw the governor of Erbil confirmed the incident, vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice, saying such actions by the gunmen is “unacceptable”.
“We will very soon find the suspects. No one can avoid facing justice,” he added.
Khoshnaw also stated that the words from Yaba’s family on the incident are not very “accurate”, they purportedly exaggerated in telling the story.
