SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A trial of four activists detained in Duhok province last year was delayed until further notice, a lawyer said on Monday.
Activists Masoud Shangali, Bandawar Ayub Rashid, Kargar Abbas Ali and Sherwan Taha Amin were set to appear in court on Monday morning to give their testimonies.
Lawyer Bashdar Hassan told reporters that the trial was delayed until further notice because “the judges had cases related to drugs, and didn’t have time to see this case”.
The Kurdish security forces arrested dozens of journalists and activists in Duhok last year over espionage and allegedly undermining national security in the Kurdistan Region.
Five other activists Amr Khalid Agid, Firsat Ahmed Saeed, Jamal Khalil Majid, Sleman Kamal Sleman and Sleman Musa Ahmed whose trial was delayed last week will appear in court on Tuesday.
The nine activists are accused of “undermining national security and spying for the U.S., UK, Iraqi President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi”, their families said in a joint statement.
“The people who were invited as witnesses didn’t give testimonies and some of them even said they didn’t know the defendants, except for one secret witness, named ‘Number 33’,” lawmaker Ali Hama Salih said outside Erbil criminal court-2.
Lawyer Hassan said the defendants were accused of having links to activists in Baghdad, supporting Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, and having contacts with President Barham Salih.
“These accusations are not a crime,” he added.
A trial of two other activists, Omed Baroshki and Badal Barwari who is a teacher, is scheduled to be held on July 29.
In February, Erbil criminal court sentenced journalists Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebari and Ayaz Karam as well as activists Shvan Omer and Hariwan Issa to six years in prison on national security charges.
Their lawyers presented appeals twice to the court of appellate, but they were rejected.
According to lawyer Bashdar Hassan, there are still 35 more activists whose cases are still at the directorate of Asayish (security).
