Baroshki: Badinan Journalists Face Political Harassment

PUKMEDIA

Journalists Omed Baroshki & Sulaiman Ahmed.

Following a period of 279 days in jail, journalist Sulaiman Ahmed was handed a three-year prison sentence by the Duhok Court and a journalist says that Badinan journalists face political harassment.

On Monday, July 29, 2024, Duhok Court sentenced Sulaiman Ahmed, a journalist and correspondent working for RojNews Agency, to three years in prison after his fate was unknown for 211 days.

RojNews reported that the Duhok Court did not allow United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq's (UNAMI) representatives to attend the court's hearing.

Journalist Ahmed was arrested on October 25, 2023, at the Faysh Khabur gate, which serves as a border crossing between the Kurdistan Region and West Kurdistan. He was detained while on his way back to the Kurdistan Region from West Kurdistan, Northeastern Syria.

Ahmed's attorney stated that he is from Afrin, a city in West Kurdistan. He entered the Kurdistan Region legally in 2018 and had a valid residency permit. Ahmed has been employed as a journalist at the RojNews Agency.

Journalist Omed Baroshki in Duhok told PUKMEDIA: "The ruling party in Duhok constantly uses different scenarios to arrest journalists and punish them under legal cover, similar to how they previously arrested us journalists and levied numerous unfounded allegations against us, and punished us.”

“Badinan journalists face political harassment and are punished within the framework of the law and charged with espionage. Journalist Sulaiman Ahmed, like all other journalists arrested in Badinan, has been charged with espionage and disrupting national security,” Baroshki said.

Baroshki further stated: "We have lost faith in the verdicts made by the courts in Erbil and Duhok. Any journalist in this area who does not align with the ruling party will face charges and consequences...I urge the international community to pressure the Kurdistan Regional Government and prevent it from arresting and penalising journalists based on unfounded allegations."

The Kurdistan Region experienced the highest incidence of violence against journalists in Erbil province during the first half of 2024, as reported by the local Reporters Organisation for the Rights and Development.

Despite ongoing international reports highlighting the diminishing press freedom in the Kurdistan Region, particularly in Erbil and Duhok, journalists continue to be imprisoned, accused, and penalised each year for various reasons. Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebari, Omed Baroshki, Badel Barwari, and numerous other journalists and activists have previously been arrested and sentenced.



PUKMEDIA