A Baghdad court has released three suspects in the burning of bazaars in Kirkuk and Erbil due to lack of evidence, leading to protests from Turkmen.
According to a letter issued by the Baghdad- Rasafa Court of Appeal on November 5, 2024, the Criminal Court decided to release the three suspects after denying the charges against them due to lack of evidence.
The court also ordered the return of the vehicle and belongings that were confiscated from the accused.
The two Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Interior Ministries held a joint press conference in Baghdad on July 1, where they referred to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as the "planner and executor" of several incidents involving the burning of bazaars and public places in Kirkuk, Erbil, and Duhok.
Three suspects were arrested, two of whom were members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) security forces (Asayish).
KRG Interior Ministry spokesman Miqdad Mir stated during the news conference that the three suspects were responsible for setting fire to multiple markets and other locations in Kirkuk, including an incident where 27 shops and 14 warehouses were burned. They also had plans to carry out similar actions in Erbil and Duhok in the future.
One of the incidents they were involved in was the burning of the Khan Qidar bazaar in Kirkuk.
Arshad Salihi, a Turkmen MP from Kirkuk, expressed concern in a video statement about the decision to release the three suspects. He mentioned that they were initially named as suspects and perpetrators of the arson incident by the Iraqi Interior Ministry following an investigation, which is why the decision to release them came as a surprise.
Salihi called on the prime minister, the head of the judiciary, and the interior minister for an explanation.
Previously, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) refuted accusations made by both the Iraqi and Kurdistan Interior Ministries regarding the burning of markets in Kirkuk, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok, dismissing them as "baseless."
At the same time, the PUK cleared the security forces employees who had been arrested in connection to the same case were already fired.
