SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Amnesty International on Friday called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to immediately release journalists and activists imprisoned in Erbil.
On February 16, a court in Erbil sentenced journalists Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebrai and Ayaz Karam as well as activists Shvan Omer and Hariwan Issa to six years each in jail on national security charges.
The Kurdish security forces arrested the five in Duhok province in October over allegedly undermining national security in the region.
In a letter to KRG Coordinator for International Advocacy Dindar Zebari, the Amnesty International said the five journalists and activists “must be immediately and unconditionally released”.
The watchdog described the trial as “a flagrantly unfair trial mired with serious allegations of torture and other ill-treatment”.
The five journalists and activists have been on hunger strike to protest their detention, according to Amnesty. They “are detained in overcrowded cells with no room to sleep, stand or walk, together with over 100 prisoners,” it said.
Amnesty also urged the KRG to “immediately take all steps to ensure their unjust conviction is overturned, and ensure a prompt and effective investigation into the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment with a view to holding perpetrators accountable and providing redress to them.”
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani urged everybody on February 19 to respect the judiciary system in the Region, as criticism grows over the sentencing of the journalists.
Barzani’s tweet came shortly after the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it had followed “closely” the recent detentions of journalists and activists as well as their trail in the Kurdistan Region.
“The U.S. has consistently engaged on the issue of freedom expression, including for members of the press, with KRG officials and will continue to do so,” the U.S. embassy tweeted.
“Democratic societies respect freedom and expression and support the ability of press members to report without fear of retaliation,” it said.
The day before, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said he was following the case closely, reiterating his support for the rule of law, independence of the courts and human rights principles.
“The February 16th court sentencing of a number of detainees has stirred public concern,” Barzani said in a statement on Thursday.
“In accordance with the law, the defendants have the right to appeal the decision, and the Court of Appeal is obligated to review the decision in a way that upholds the legal and human rights of the defendants and the plaintiffs,” he added.
On February 10, the prime minister accused some of the detainees of being spies and planning to assassinate and blow up diplomatic missions in the Region.
“Those who were detained are not journalists and activists. Some of them were spies of countries and some others attempted to explode buildings and places of foreigners in the Region,” Barzani said in a press conference, referring to diplomatic missions in the Region.
KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said the case of the detainees was a “legal case, but it has created doubts with people and that will stain the name and reputation of the Kurdistan Region”.
“I call on the general prosecutor to play its role and for an accurate decision to be made by the court of appeals, where the rule of law, freedom, and democracy are preserved,” Talabani said.
On Feb. 10, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to release the journalists.
“Today’s sentencing of journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari is not only unfair and disproportionate, but it also proves that the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government has finally dropped the pretense of caring about press freedom,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado.
“Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq should immediately release both journalists, drop the charges against them, and cease harassing the media.”
