Journalist Qaraman Shukri (Photo: Qaraman Shukri/CPJ)
2021-06-29
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SULAIMANI — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Monday (June 29) condemned the sentencing of Qaraman Shukri to seven years in prison during a secret trial.
Shukri’s family told NRT on June 26 that they were surprised to learn that he had been tried and convicted during an unannounced trial and sentenced to the lengthy prison term, which is the longest handed down to any of the journalists currently behind bars in the Kurdistan Region.
“Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq are making an appalling habit of sentencing journalists to prison without any regard for due process and for the rights and freedoms they claim to defend,” CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado said in a statement.
“The Kurdish regional government should immediately release photojournalist Qaraman Shukri, drop the charges against him, and stop imposing harsh prison sentences on members of the press,” he added.
Shukri was arrested in January and has been in custody ever since.
The month after his arrest, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Coordinator for International Advocacy Dindar Zebari told CPJ that the journalist was charged with violating Article 156 of the Iraqi penal code, “a clause banning acts intended to violate the country’s unity, independence, or security.”
Shukri’s family told CPJ that they are looking into whether they can appeal the verdict.
(NRT Digital Media)