SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The U.S. Consulate General in Erbil said on Thursday the United States expects host governments to respect the work of its diplomats, in response to allegations made by the court of appeal which upheld convictions of five journalists and activists.
Earlier on Thursday, the court of appeal in Erbil upheld convictions of five journalists and activists who were sentenced to six years in prison in February.
In its decision, which was made on April 28 and made public today, the court of appeal alleged that the defendants “contacted the U.S. and German consulates and received money,” without giving further detail.
In response to the allegations, a spokesman for the U.S. Consulate General in Erbil said the United States supports freedom of expression and media.
“While we do not comment on individual court cases, the United States has supported freedom of expression and media since our founding. It is part of our identity and we continue to promote it as one of our core values,” the spokesman told Esta Media Network.
“We will also continue to emphasize the importance of due process and the rule of law, including access to legal counsel.
“We expect host governments all around the world to respect the work of U.S. diplomats, who—much like journalists—meet with a variety of people in order to do their jobs. We extend this same courtesy to foreign diplomats working in the United States, including to representatives of the KRG.”
The court of appeal also alleged that “the defendants confessed that they had met with the German consul in one of the hotels in Erbil and they sent him [the consul] to Dora area twice, directed by the head of the group defendant Shirwan Amina Na’oo.”
Esta Media Network contacted the German consulate, but did not response as of press time.
On February 16, Erbil criminal court-2 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 2020 over allegedly undermining national security in the region.
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani 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.
The Committee to Protect Journalists and Amnesty International called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to release the journalists.
A number of other journalists and activists are held in custody, whose cases are still pending.
