ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Lahur Talabany appeared before a judge at the Sulaimani court on Monday, where a decision was made to transfer his case to Erbil, according to his legal team.
Burhan Rashid Gulla, Lahur Talabany’s lawyer, told Rudaw on Monday that Talabany’s case “has been sent to the Erbil Court of Appeals, where a decision will be made regarding it.”
Gulla said the court session took place in Sulaimani and confirmed that Talabany personally appeared before the judge. He stressed that the transfer only concerns the case file, not Talabany himself. “Mr. Lahur [Talabany] was present before the judge today. Lahur Sheikh Jangi [Talabany] himself will remain in Sulaimani; the decision was only to send his file to Erbil, where it will be reviewed and a ruling will be issued,” the lawyer said.
According to the legal team, the decision to transfer the case was made at the request of Talabany’s lawyers and his family.
Lahur Talabany, the leader of the Kurdish opposition party People’s Front (Baray Gal) and a former co-president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), was arrested in late August 2025 following a violent standoff with PUK security forces in Sulaimani.
On the night of August 22, Sulaimani security forces - including Anti-Terrorism (CTG), Asayish, and Commando units - raided the Lalezar Hotel after Talabany refused to surrender. After a three-hour standoff, he, his brother Polad, and several members of his armed group were arrested.
Following the arrests, the Kurdistan Region Security Agency (Asayish) in Sulaimani released what it described as confessions from several individuals who said they had acted on Talabany’s orders to plan the assassination of Bafel Talabani, the president of the PUK. Baray Gal has denied the accusations.
Earlier, a well-placed source from the Sulaimani court told Rudaw that Talabany was expected to stand trial on charges including “premeditated murder” and “planning acts of sabotage,” allegations he has denied. The source said the judge was expected to determine the relevant legal articles under which he would be tried.
In late August, senior Baray Gal member Shadman Mala Hassan questioned the impartiality of courts in the Kurdistan Region, calling for the case to be heard outside the region. “The courts follow orders from leaders of political parties,” he told Rudaw, adding that the courts “issued the warrant and moved forces to arrest him [Talabany] on the same day, so how can we trust the court process?”
At the time, a Sulaimani court source dismissed reports that the case could be transferred to Erbil or another city, saying there was “no such intention” and “no legal justification for transferring the case.” Monday’s decision, however, marks a shift, with the case file now set to be reviewed by the Erbil Court of Appeals.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment