Kurdistan
From top left: Hariwan Issa, Guhdar Zebari, Sherwan Sherwani, Shvan Saeed, and Ayaz Karam. Photos: handout/KRSC
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said it is working with international partners to strengthen its judicial system, but maintained its courts are independent, in response to concerns over an Erbil appellate court’s decision to uphold a six-year prison sentence for five Duhok journalists and activists.
The KRG has asked the United Nations mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and the UN human rights commissioner to help “strengthen the legal system,” Dindar Zebari, the KRG’s coordinator for international advocacy, said in a statement on Thursday.
“We have also invited European Union member states to support legal and judicial reforms in Kurdistan. Furthermore, senior government ministers have been holding consultations with local advocacy groups, to address concerns regarding media freedoms and rights,” Zebari added.
He was responding to recent statements from UNAMI and European envoys to Iraq, which criticized the court’s ruling.
On Sunday, Erbil’s appellate court upheld a guilty verdict and six-year prison sentence for five Duhok journalists and activists charged with “endangering the national security of the Kurdistan Region.”
The case of the five – Sherwan Sherwani, Shvan Saeed, Ayaz Karam, Hariwan Issa, and Guhdar Zebari – has brought harsh criticism down on the KRG and fears that space is narrowing for freedom of expression in the Kurdistan Region. The five were among a group arrested last summer in Duhok for participating in protests against the government’s failure to pay its civil servants in full and on time.
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani was accused of intervening in the case when he publicly called the men “spies” and “saboteurs,” accusing them of working for other countries.
An earlier ruling from an appeal court also upheld the conviction it said was partially based on the men being in contact with and receiving money from Western diplomatic missions, drawing criticism from German and American envoys.
On Wednesday, in a joint statement, EU representatives to Iraq condemned the latest court decision, highlighting concerns about restrictions on press freedom and political pressure on the courts. “The European Union wishes to recall that freedom of expression, media freedom, as well as an independent judiciary, are essential components of democracy,” the statement read.
UNAMI said the court ruling “regrettably confirms the urgent need for judicial and institutional reform” in the Kurdistan Region.
In response, Zebari said the court is “independent of the government and apolitical” and urged the international envoys to respect the judicial process.
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