AM:10:49:08/09/2021
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SULAIMANI — A court in Erbil postponed court proceedings for the third time on Wednesday (September 8) against five imprisoned activists and teachers from Duhok who were arrested
last year.
The activists and teachers include Amr Khalid, Sleman Kamal,
Sleman Musa, Jamal Khalil and Firsat Ahmed, who have now been in prison without trial for more than a year.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) member Kamaran Osman told
NRT that a representative of the public prosecutor asked for a delay because they needed more time to scrutinize the case.
He said that CPT members observed that the defendants have
been "hurt" physically and mentally, adding that some of them were crying and
shouting in the court.
Osman quoted Sleman Musa as saying that "the case of the greatest
dictator should be settled within a year, why is our case not settled?”
The trial was postponed until October 6.
Kamal and Musa were arrested on September 6, 2020 by Asayish forces in Akre district after they wrote posts on Facebook criticizing the
system of governance in the Kurdistan Region.
Later, six members of the Kurdistan Parliament who attended Wednesday's aborted hearing called on the presidency of the Kurdistan Region’s public prosecutor to replace its members with people who are "able to perform their legal
duties.”
The lawmakers included representatives of the New Generation
Movement, the Change Movement (Gorran), the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), and the Kurdistan
Justice Group (KJG).
Following protests in Duhok last year against the Kurdistan
Regional Government’s (KRG) economic policies, the local security forces, which
are affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), arrested dozens of
people in a widespread crackdown to suppress expressions of dissent.
Since then, at least seventeen activists and journalists
have been tried on serious national security charges, in what have been widely
condemned as politically motivated trials that are beset with procedural flaws
that do not adhere to international standards of due process and judicial
independence.
Seven of those have been convicted and sentenced to
significant prison terms between one and seven years in prison.
Many others have not yet had their day in court, despite
being arrested last autumn.
(NRT Digital Media)
This story was updated at 3:02 p.m. EBL