ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Erbil's appeal court has upheld the controversial sentences of five Duhok journalists and activists partly on the basis of them being in contact with and receiving money from western diplomatic missions. According to a document Rudaw received on Wednesday, the court has found that the men had intended to “target sensitive areas and establishments in the Kurdistan Region." "They had also contacted the American consulate and German consulate and took money from them. They also contacted PKK group," adds the decision, which is dated to April 28 and signed by head of court, Abdullah Ali Ahmad Sharfani. In February, seven people, including two journalists, were put on trial for “endangering the national security of the Kurdistan Region.” Five of the defendants - Sherwan Sherwani, Shvan Saeed, Ayaz Karam, Hariwan Issa, and Guhdar Zebari – were found guilty and sentenced to six years in jail. The court’s ruling caused outrage in the Kurdistan Region and abroad. “We continue to be concerned that these men were sentenced because of a biased political will, and a choice by the court of appeal to close its eyes to all the fair trial standards that the prosecution violated and that the judges allowed,” Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Rudaw English. “This outcome represents how significantly Kurdish authorities have allowed free expression to be eroded,” she added. The men were arrested in Duhok province last year after anti-government protests over unpaid wages. Kurdish security forces, known as Asayish, detained over two dozen people. On Tuesday, several reports of the appeal court approving the sentencing of the detained men circulated on social media. An international press freedom monitor condemned the sentences as “unfair and disproportionate”. Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani said at the time that the concerns raised about the trial are damaging to the reputation of the Kurdistan Region. Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani had claimed the detainees were “spies” and saboteurs plotting terror attacks against foreign missions, and abductions and assassinations, prior to their sentencing.
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