The Court of Cassation of Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday confirmed the six-year prison sentence of five journalists and activists, exacerbating the concern of human rights defenders who denounce
"unfair"
trials
and security roundabouts.
Authorities in the autonomous region say the five men
"have relations with foreign entities and the Kurdish Workers' Party
,
"
the PKK, the Kurdish opposition in Turkey, a Kurdish government source told AFP.
Read also: The PKK shoots down a Turkish helicopter in Iraqi Kurdistan
Aso Hashem, lawyer for the five men, told AFP that
"three of the five judges of the Court of Cassation upheld the judgment"
handed down on February 16 by a court in Erbil, capital of the region held by the Democratic Party. of Kurdistan, of Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
The former magistrate and deputy Latif Moustafa, who left the Kurdish judicial system by denouncing its politicization, also confirmed to AFP the maintenance of the verdict in cassation
"with two votes against and three for".
Journalists Ayaz Karam, Kohidar Zebari and Sherwan Sherwani, as well as activists Shivan Saïd and Harwian Issa were responding to multiple charges.
In addition to the
“incitement to demonstrate and destabilize the region”
- the five men covered or participated in the demonstrations against the late payment of civil servants' salaries at the start of the 2020 school year - they also responded with
“espionage”
and
“armed
struggle
”. "As
well as
" misuse of electronic devices "
.
"The nature of the work of these individuals has nothing to do with journalism or activism but is part of a larger plot and a company of sabotage,"
adds the government source, while the Kurdish authorities have published
"confessions"
records of the five accused. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that the accusations were based on social media posts and
"secret informants"
that the defense was never able to interview.
"These men were condemned because of a partial political will",
accuses to AFP Belkis Wille, in charge of Iraq at HRW. Sherwan Sherwani, for example, is known for his corruption investigations and has criticized the Kurdish prime minister on Facebook. The decision of the Court of Cassation
"shows to what extent the Kurdish authorities have allowed free expression to be undermined"
, says Belkis Wille. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounced in February an
“unfair and disproportionate”
sentence
which
“proves that Kurdistan has ended its claim to care about press freedom”.
Prime Minister Barzani told him at a press conference that
"Kurdistan supports the press and the rights of journalists".
Monday, World Press Freedom Day, Karoukh Othmane, also a journalist, was arrested in the Kurdish province of Sulaymaniyah, held by another family clan, that of the Talabani.
