Badinan detainees representative: KRG oppresses pen-holders by party-owned courts

Kurdistan 12:55 PM - 2023-03-28

A man behind prison bars.

The representative of the Badinan detainees responded to Dindar Zebari, Coordinator for International Advocacy for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), by comparing him to Mohammed Saeed Sahaf, a former politician and diplomat from Iraq who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 2001.
 
"Because dictators are anti-freedom, I am not surprised that the prime minister studied at the best university in the United States and has yet to learn how important the issue of freedom of expression and journalism is," said Ayhan Saeed, a representative of detainees in Badinan, in a statement obtained by PUKMEDIA.

 "He easily began blackmailing activists and journalists in Badinan and yet wonders why the issue has grown so big," Saeed added.

Using force and courts run by their party, they are oppressing pen-holders of Badinan and the Kurdistan Region

"The designation of "Badinan prisoners" has upset the prime minister and Dindar Zebari (Mohammed Saeed Sahaf) of the ninth cabinet," Saeed wrote. “You are dividing Kurdistan and strengthening the two-administration rule while your control only extends to Degala and Parde, despite the fact that for us, this homeland is one and is not divided into parts, regions, or zones. In fact, the prime minister and his government squad chose Badinan to detain and kidnap journalists and activists. Yes, we intended for this name to convey the message that Badinan is not your property, and, as you can see, the entire world is discussing the injustice you are causing to our friends and fellow writers in Badinan and the entire Kurdistan Region as they exercise a civil struggle."

They disregarded advice of public opinion and the international community

"This question is constantly on the minds of some authoritarian political groups in the Kurdistan Region, as if they are unaware of what they have done to freedom fighters and believed they were authorized as in previous years to carry out assassinations, torture, repression, and forced disappearances," Saeed said.

"They ignored public opinion and the international community because they believed imprisonment was a minor matter." "They were unaware that the cases involving the journalists and activists would harm them 1,000 times more than terrorism," Saeed continued.

The Badinan detainees' case is political and has no legal foundation

"Certainly, the Badinan detainees' case is political and has no legal foundation," Saeed affirmed. "Many of their legal rights have been violated, according to the Kurdistan Region's relevant legislation, the Iraqi Constitution, and the Declaration of Human Rights."
 
He added: "Everyone is paying close attention to this case because it relates to political repression, a lack of freedom, and the "cartoonization of courts" under the rule of this so-called police-minded government." If we carefully examine Dindar Zebari's words, it becomes abundantly clear how much the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) fears the Badinan prison and Sherwan Sherwani and his friends."

Politics and government are about wisdom and virtue, both of which the ninth cabinet lacks

The spokesperson for the Badinan detainees concluded by saying: "Force and jail cannot address the issues of freedom, journalism, and civil struggle. Politics and governance require wisdom and virtue, both of which the ninth cabinet lacks. Instead of making amends, they are using force against the Badinan detainees, imprisoning journalist Qareman Shukri for seven years and torturing journalist Gohdar Zebari."

 

 

PUKMEDIA