SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The German Consulate General in Erbil on Thursday called on Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani to use his power to grant amnesty for journalists and activists sentenced to six years in prison.
“@GermanyInKRI regrets today’s decision by the Court of Cassation against five journalists & activists. The decision remains difficult to comprehend, lacking clear proof of punishable crimes,” the German consulate said in a tweet.
“We call upon @IKRPresident to invoke his power to grant amnesty,” it added.
The court of cassation in Erbil upheld convictions of five journalists and activists who were sentenced to six years in prison in February.
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.
In the decision, the court of cassation alleged that the defendants “contacted the U.S. and German consulates and received money,” without giving further detail.
It 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.”
“Free exchanges with journalists & activists are part and parcel of diplomats’ daily work, also of @GermanyInKRI. The Court’s reference today is absurd & goes against the spirit of our close and friendly relations between Germany and #KRI,” the German consulate in Erbil said.
Earlier, the U.S. Consulate General in Erbil told Esta Media Network that 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,” a spokesman for the consulate said.
“We will also continue to emphasize the importance of due process and the rule of law, including access to legal counsel,” the spokesman added.
“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.”
In February, 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.
