Two of Badinan detainees are to be released soon

Tow of the Badinan detainees (Badal Barwari and Omed Baroshki) are to be released soon as the Erbil court reduced their sentence to one year.

Both of the detainees have already spent their time, so they are to be released soon.

The lawyers of the detainees announced at a press conference in Erbil that the item that the two detainees were trialed based on was changed to Article 222. Therefore their sentence was reduced to one year.

"Erbil criminal court had no evidence of the charges against the two journalists and activists, so the judge decided to sentence them to one year in prison," the lawyer said.

"The court charged them with holding protests and gather groups on the social networks, but the charges were far from the truth and baseless," they said.

Omen Baroshki is a journalist and an activist, while Badal Barwari had been working as a teacher in the public sector for at least 27 years. He had been arrested at least four times in the past three years for allegedly encouraging popular protests.

Over a dozen of journalists and activists from Duhok (Badinan regions) are currently detained in Erbil for various charges including, organizing protests, spying for foreign diplomatic missions, sending sensitive information to foreign entities, and cooperating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which are seen by the local community and the outside world as unfair and a clear violation of the freedom of speech.

The trials of Badinan detainees left local and international echoes and a wave of condemnation and anger, as well as serious doubts about the independence of the judiciary in the Kurdistan Region.

The previous 5 Badinan journalists and activists' cases 

On 28 April, the Kurdistan Region's Court of Appeal in Erbil upheld the six-year prison sentence against Badinan activists and journalists, Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebari, Hariwan Issa, Ayaz Karam, and Shvan Saeed who were arrested in October 2020. 

The court ratified the decision last June and closed the case. In its ruling, the court rejected the defendants’ claims of torture and other ill-treatment, citing lack of evidence, while confirming the charges brought against the five activists and journalists include spying for the USA, Britain, and Germany, sending sensitive information to foreign entities and cooperating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).  

The court's decision straight away resulted in condemnations locally and by foreign countries and international organizations. The US, Germany, UK, and Canada condemned the decision of the court regarding the imprisonment of journalists and activists in Duhok.  

Furthermore, international organizations, such as CPJ, and International Organization of Freedom and Human Rights, and Amnesty International that advocate journalists' rights and freedom of expression also condemned the court's decision. Political parties in the Kurdistan Region including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Goran, also said they viewed the verdict as an attack on freedom of expression.



PUKmedia