SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Community Peacemaker (CPT) organization on Saturday labeled the Kurdistan Region “unsafe” for activists and journalists.
“Iraqi Kurdistan is not a safe place for activists and journalists to speak out against injustice,” said the Iraqi-Kurdistan team of CPT said.
CPT’s words were a response to a controversial verdict issued by the Erbil court on Thursday against a well-known Kurdish journalist, Sherwan Sherwani.
Sherwani was sentenced to an additional four years in jail following a. He has been accused of violating Articles 295 and 298 of the Iraqi Penal Code.
He has allegedly falsified a document by signing it on behalf of fellow imprisoned journalist Ghudar Zebari without permission.
However, the testifiers favored Sherwani during the trial, according to the CPT team.
Sherwani was already imprisoned for charges that were widely seen as politically motivated.
“The courtroom during Sherwani’s trial was militarized,” the CPT team said in twelve-minute a press conference, claiming they had recorded dozens of violations during the process during Thursday’s Erbil court session.
“There were 15 soldiers in the courtroom and even more in the outside.” “How can anybody defend themselves in a courtroom when the situation is like this.”
“It was not a fair trial,” they said.
According to the CPT team, the defending lawyers were not allowed to see any materials before Sherwani’s trial begin.
“It was unjust sentencing and unjust punishment.”
In the meantime, the CPT expressed concern about the treatment of prisoners at the Erbil prison, as well as the use of torture, and the access to medical support and the access to legal resources.
“Unfortunately, it’s very obvious there is political interference in the judiciary system, it’s not independent and free,” they added.
The CPT further pointed out that the Kurdistan Region judiciary system is being used as a political tool to punish and suppress activists and journalists.
The CPT also revealed that during the last six months, at least nine people left the Kurdistan Region because of their lives or the lives of their families.
It also called for the release of Sherwan Sherwani and the political prisoners in the Kurdistan Region, according to the press conference.
“We call on the international community, parliamentarians, or anybody to use their voices and resources and diplomatic channels to pressure the Kurdistan Region government for the sake of protecting the basic human rights.”
