ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The health of the New Generation leader is "unstable" after a week of hunger striking, following his arrest on charges of blackmail and defamation.
"Shaswar Abdulwahid, the leader of the New Generation has gone on a hunger strike in prison and his health is unstable," New Generation announced in a Facebook post on Wednesday night.
Kawa Abdulqadir, deputy head of the New Generation confirmed to Rudaw that Abdulwahid has gone on a hunger strike. "Over the past three days no one from his family or lawyers has been allowed to see him”, said Abdulqadir.
"I have requested to meet him, but they didn’t give me permission," Abdulqadir said, referring to security forces of Sulaimani.
Rudaw contacted Sulaimani Asayesh, but they were not immediately available for comment.
His followers reacted on Facebook, sending out messages expressing hope that he is safe.
Abdulwahid was arrested on May 16. The investigative court of the General Sulaimani Asayesh (security) issued a warrant for his arrest on May 14 as part of an ongoing probe into the allegations of blackmail and defamation within the party.
Ten New Generation members are already under investigation and have warrants out for their arrest. Five of these warrants are still outstanding.
The legal probe follows a split in the party that began last month when several of its MPs in both the Erbil and Baghdad parliaments accused their leadership of betraying the party’s ideals.
The MPs specifically condemned Abdulwahid for turning what was founded as a political movement into a family business, undermining its collective decision-making process, and then trying to blackmail dissenters into silence.
The criminal investigation was launched after Kurdistan parliament member Shadi Nawzad filed a lawsuit in April, alleging she was being blackmailed via text message. The sender threatened to publish a nude video of her.
Earlier this month, the Asayesh released video confessions from five people close to Abdulwahid. They admitted to the blackmail, slander, and defamation of New Generation politicians.
Shortly afterwards, Abdulwahid accused the Sulaimani security forces of conducting a politically-motivated attack against New Generation.
“They want to target and defame the New Generation and me. We have resisted in the past as much as we could,” Abdulwahid had told reporters at a press conference in Sulaimani.
The court has defended the legality of the raids of New Generation’s offices and the arrests of the party members amid widespread criticism of the security forces aligned with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) that conducted them. The raids and arrests have been perceived to be part of a wider crackdown on political opposition in the Kurdistan Region.
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