ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi parliament has asked the Federal Court in a letter to take legal measures against Kurdish MPs who voted for independence from Iraq in last week’s referendum.
The issue was raised by Salim al-Jabouri, speaker of the parliament, together with the Shiite National Alliance, the largest faction in the parliament.
The letter calls for stripping those Kurdish MPs involved in vote of immunity and going as far as putting them on trial.
According to the letter, their membership in the parliament will be suspended, too.
Jabouri said in a press conference that the parliament's decisions against those involved in vote was not a ‘collective punishment.”
He said the parliament would commit to the Federal Court’s rulings against the Kurdish MPs.
Rudaw’s Akam Hashim, citing Shiite MPs, the Kurdish parliamentarian were denied entry into the parliament by them on Tuesday on the same ground.
Hashim added that barring the Kurdish MPs came when the State of Law faction collected and presented a number of signature to the speaker of parliament to prevent the Kurdish MPs from entering the parliament hall.
Rudaw’s reporter from the scene said that the Kurdish MPs were also told to return to Kurdistan.
A Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) MP said the parliamentarians had returned to Baghdad to advocate for the rights of the Kurdish people.
And Masoud Haideri, an MP from the Change Movement or Gorran denied they were barred from entering the parliament hall, saying “no one could stop us from entering the parliament as we constitute one of the main components in Iraq: the Kurdish nation.”

MPs from all Kurdish parties, excluding the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), returned to Baghdad to attend the new parliamentary sessions.
At least 175 MPs have attended today’s session.
The Iraqi parliament recently issued a set of punitive measures against the Kurdistan Region in response to the referendum, including a flight ban.