Journalist Sherwan Amin Sherwani was denied parole by a court of Erbil, capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region KRI, meaning he must continue serving his sentence until September 9 th, lawyer said.
The volunteer defense team approached court for conditional release of Sherwani in order to serve the last court of his sentence at home but the judge denied the parole.
Mohammed Abdullah, a member of Sherwan Sherwani's legal team, informed KirkukNow that based on the verdict, Sherwani was eligible for parole on March 9 of this year.
“He has the right of conditional release and serve the last quarter of his sentence among his family and relatives. We submitted our request but the judge rejected it.”
Sherwani was arrested in 2020 and convicted guilty of disturbing national security of Iraqi Kurdistan Region IKR by Erbil criminal court on February 16, 2021, sentenced for six years in prison along with four other freelance reporters and civic activists among over 80 detainees of Badinan (Duhok province).
Subsequently, on July 20, 2023, the Erbil court sentenced him to an additional four years in prison for "fraud," which was later reduced to two years on appeal.
However, under the effective Iraqi law, he can apply for parole after serving three-quarters of his sentence.
Abdullah explained that conditional release does not signify the completion of the sentence, but allows the individual to serve the remainder of their sentence among family members.
On June 20th, Erbil’s Court of Appeal upheld the six-year prison sentences of freelance journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari, and three civic activists Ayaz Karam, Hariwan Essa and Shivan Sa'id for allegedly violating national security laws, and convicted of "spying for foreign countries and attempting a coup."
In July 2023, Erbil court has sentenced freelance journalist Sherwan Sherwani to four years in prison on charges of fraud.
Abdullah disputed the accusation that Sherwani had threatened a security official in prison, stating that it was unjustified. He emphasized that Sherwan Sherwani's case is still under investigation and has not yet been concluded.
Sherwani and photojournalist Qahraman Shukri, despite the presidential decree of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region President IKRP to commute his sentence, are still in prison.
Shukri, who worked for Rojnews, Star TV, and Kurdish News Network KNN for six years, was arrested on Jnauary 27, 2021. He was allowed to see his mother in prison in June of the same year. His mother said her son told her he was sentenced to seven years-in-prison by Duhok court without having the right to hire a lawyer.
The Metro Center for Journalists Rights and Advocacy reported 182 cases of violations against journalists and media channels last year in the KRI, including 24 cases of journalists arrested without court warrant, compared to 249 violations in 2023.
Local and international media outlets and organizations, advocates and MPs expressed their grave concern that that press freedom is increasingly under threat in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The Iraqi Kurdistan Union of Journalists (KUJ) has reported 62 cases of violations against journalists last year, including 25 cases of obstruction and discrimination.
