(Left to Right) Shvan Saeed Omar, Ayaz Karam, Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebari, and Hariwan Issa (NRT Digital Media)
2021-06-30
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SULAIMANI — The European Union Delegation to Iraq issued a strong statement criticizing the recent decision by the Kurdistan Region’s Court of Appeals to deny the final appeal for five journalists and activists from Duhok.
The delegation, which collectively represents the EU member states in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, said that it shares “the serious concerns” outlined in a report issued by the UN “that basic fair trial standards have not been respected during the hearings [which] notably included allegations of torture, the lack of access to the case file by the defense as well as political pressure around the cases.”
On Sunday, the court upheld six-year prisons sentences handed down against journalists Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebari, and Ayaz Karam and activists Shvan Saeed Omar and Hariwan Issa during a nine-hour trial in February in which they were accused of seeking to undermine the security and stability of the state. An initial appeal was denied in May.
All five defendants strongly deny the charges against them, alleging that statements later used against them by the court were obtained through coercion and threats against their families or simply fabricated by secret and unnamed witnesses cited by the Kurdistan Region's Security Council.
The prosecution is widely viewed as politically motivated, with the defendants’ arrests coming in the context of an extended crackdown on journalists and activists by the security forces in Duhok and Erbil governorates, which are affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
“The European Union and the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States in Iraq encourage the Kurdistan Regional authorities to consider the key recommendations contained in the UNAMI/OHCHR report, especially those related to harassment, intimidation, and reprisals against journalists, human rights defenders, and activists and to ensure that criminal law is not used as a tool to limit freedom of expression,” the statement added.
The EU “wishes to recall that freedom of expression, media freedom, as well as an independent judiciary, are essential components of democracy,” the statement concluded.
EU Ambassador to Iraq Martin Huth was the first diplomat to comment on the appeal denial, saying in a tweet that he was “appalled” by the move. Wednesday’s statement expands on his initial comments and comes following a consultative process involving all 27-member states.
In addition to the appeal denials for Sherwani, Zebari, and Karam, journalists Omed Baroshki and Qaraman Shukri were also given prison terms since June 22, meaning that all journalists known to be behind bars in the Kurdistan Region were condemned to prison terms last week.
In addition to the Europeans, Canadian diplomats in Baghdad and Erbil and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) also slammed the appeal denial.
Representatives of the US and UK, which are both undergoing leadership changes, referred NRT to previous statements on the case.
(NRT Digital Media)