Erbil court extends two Badinan detainees' sentences for another 6 months

PUKMEDIA

Badinan detainees

Two Badinan detainees have not yet been released and the leader of the legal team representing Badinan detainees says: "After Newroz, we will try to free the remaining two detainees on conditional release, but if our request is denied, they will be forced to spend an additional six months in jail."

Bashdar Hassan, Leader of the legal team representing Badinan detainees, told PUKMEDIA: "After serving three years each in prison, Shvan Saeed, Ayaz Karam, and Hariwan Isa were all released today; however, Sherwan Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari's sentences were extended until September of this year."

"After Newroz, we will seek the court once more for Sherwan Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari's conditional releases even though we believe this decision to be unlawful," said Hassan.

Ayhan Saeed, a representative for Badinan detainees, said: "The second court of Erbil sentenced journalist Guhdar Zebari to a new term under Article 279 of the Iraqi Criminal Code under the guise of switching the logo on his automobile from Nissan to Daewoo three years ago, even though there were less than 24 hours left before their release. We believe this decision to be an insult to the judicial system and democracy, despite the fact that he hasn't altered his logo and that it has to do with a traffic fee."

Saeed continued: "The public and the international community are well aware that for the past two years and eight months, Badinan journalists and activists have been subject to illegal and undemocratic punishment." "This injustice violated even the most basic regional laws, the Iraqi Constitution, and even Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, further damaging the region's reputation," he added.

Whereas Sherwan Sherwani, Shvan Saeed, Ayaz Karam, Hariwan Isa, and Guhdar Zebari's six-year prison terms were reduced to two years and four months by the Kurdistan Regional Government. All five of the detainees were supposed to be released in August of last year in accordance with Article 331 of the Conditional Release Act.



PUKMEDIA