Over 100 public figures denounce trial of Kirkuk Kurdish farmer as ‘political’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A group of 114 Iraqi academics, journalists, activists, and public figures has submitted a letter to Iraq’s top leadership condemning the legal case against farmer Mohammed Amin from Kirkuk’s Sargaran district, who is being prosecuted after a confrontation with the Iraqi army earlier this year.

In a letter seen by Rudaw, the signatories said the case against Amin is “political and has been given a legal facade,” calling it “a continuation of a planned policy and the use of state tools to punish those who demand their rights.”

The letter, addressed to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, and Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, emphasized that “Amin had not incited violence or disrupted social peace but had exercised his right to protest perceived injustice.”

Farmer Mohammed Amin, who heads the farmers’ defense committee in Kirkuk’s northwestern Sargaran district, was pulled from his tractor by his scarf during a confrontation with Iraqi soldiers in mid-February. He later filed a complaint against the soldier involved, who was briefly detained and then released.

The signatories said that “what is being done against this farmer is a continuation of the same old state mentality, which considers every demand for Kurdish rights a threat.”

Amin’s lawyer, Bashdar Hassan, told Rudaw earlier in May that the Iraqi defense ministry and the soldier responded by filing separate lawsuits against his client. Hassan said Amin is now facing charges of “sabotage and rioting”.

“The Iraqi Ministry of Defense has filed a lawsuit against me and summoned me to court because of the events of February 17 this year, when I defended the rights of the farmers of the area,” Amin said on Thursday.

The incident took place amid renewed tensions over land ownership in Sargaran, where farmers have struggled to reclaim lands confiscated during the Baath regime and redistributed to Arab settlers. The Iraqi presidency ratified a land restitution law in February, intended to return such lands to their original owners.

In the days following the February clash, Sudani formed a committee to investigate the use of force by the army against farmers. However, local farmers say they continue to face restrictions and arrests while attempting to access their lands.

Last week, the Iraqi army reportedly returned to farmland in Sargaran, again preventing farmers from working their plots despite the new restitution law.

Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha has met with farmers and pledged that a committee would begin implementing the prime minister’s directives on enforcing the law. However, in April, the Iraqi justice ministry told Rudaw that all land ownership disputes remain on hold until a framework for implementation is finalized.

The law pertains to 300,000 dunams of land belonging to Kurdish and Turkmen owners in Kirkuk and other disputed areas. The Sargaran sub-district includes 42 villages, five of which are at the center of the dispute.