The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Court of Appeal has dropped charges against Journalist Sulaiman Ahmad after being sentenced to three years in prison by a Duhok court last July.
"The Kurdistan Regional Court of Appeal dropped all charges against journalist Sulaiman Ahmad," Bashdar Hassan, a member of the legal team defending the case, tldo KirkukNow.
The decision came after Ahmad's lawyers appealed the Duhok court's ruling to sentence him to three years in prison last July.
Suleiman Ahmed was sentenced under the 2003 Kurdistan Parliament Law No. 21, which deals with "espionage and disruption of national security."
Arrested on October 25, 2023, while returning to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region IKR from northeast of Syria at the Fishkhabur (Semelka) border crossing, Ahmad, who worked as a reporter in the Arabic department of Rojnews, had his charges dropped.
Ahmed is originally from the Syrian city of Afrin, and has been residing legally in the IKR since 2018. In October 2023, he returned to his hometown to participate in his father’s funeral, and was arrested during his return to the Duhok Northern Province.
Dohuk Asayish (Security forces) did not mention in its statement in November 2023 the charges against Ahmed as a journalist and indicated that the Asayish “arrested a member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who was moving between Rojava (Kurdish region of Syria) and the Kurdistan Region (of Iraq) for secret and illegal tasks, so he was arrested.”
The statement stressed that Ahmed “confessed during the investigations and will be trialed as the court will deal with him in accordance with the law."
The Asayish statement came after the Rojnews - an institution licensed by the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG- announced in a statement the disappearance of journalist Suleiman Ahmed and accused the KRI Asayish security forces of the Kurdistan Region of arresting him.
Rojnews Agency says on its website that they belong to Chatr Publishing Company and publish their articles in Kurdish (both Sorani and Kurmanji dialects) and Arabic languages. The concessioner is Hasan Hama Raza and they are licensed by KRG.
"Now that the decision has been overturned, Sulaiman Ahmad is no longer involved. There are still some legal procedures pending, including the Duhok court's final decision, and Sulaiman may be released this Thursday and reunited with his family," Hassan added.
"After searching Sulaimani's mobile phone and laptop, no evidence was found to support the claim that Sulaiman Ahmad was a spy," Hassan informed KirkukNow.
Despite the Duhok Asayish (security) statement accusing Sulaiman Ahmad of working secretly and illegally for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), there is no law in the KRI prohibiting the work of the (PKK).
Ahmed, faced trial at the court of Duhok Northern Province 220 days after his arrest, under the same law that punished journalists and activists of Badinan.
In 2023, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) brought more than 50 activists, journalists, teachers, and others to court under the same law. So far, five people have been sentenced to prison under the law.
Law No. 21 is the same article that Saddam Hussein, as chairman of the Revolutionary Leadership Council, applied to the Kurdish Peshmerga and his regime's opposition before 2003, with minor changes.
