Relatives of a driver, through Kirkuk Now, have appealed to the relevant authorities in Kirkuk, stating that "an officer and four traffic policemen assaulted a member of their family" and that they have filed a lawsuit against him and had him imprisoned.
The incident took place last Friday evening, October 10, when a detachment from the Kirkuk Traffic Directorate stopped a truck driver named Karzan Kawa near the Darman checkpoint between Kirkuk and the Pirdy sub-district (Altun Kopri).
Karwan Kawa, the driver's brother, who passed by the same detachment minutes earlier, recounted, "I drove a kilometer and my brother called me, saying, 'Help!' Five traffic police officers assaulted me, and I am bleeding. Before he could finish, the call was cut off."
Upon reaching the police station, Karwan found his brother covered in blood and engaged in a conversation with the police officers.
"The story began when a private vehicle ran over a fluorescent traffic sign and got stuck under my brother's pickup truck. A traffic officer stopped my brother," Karwan added. "The officer told me, 'We wanted to play a joke on your brother,' and we told him we would fine him one million dinars and impound the vehicle... We didn't know he wouldn't take the joke well and get so angry."
Karwan's family mentioned in a press conference that Karzan intended to film the police officers to prove, "They are wronging me," and in the process, they assaulted him.
The northern, oil-rich, ethnically mixed province of Kirkuk is home to about 1,77 million Kurds, Turkmen, and Arabs. Located 238 kilometers north of Baghdad, Kirkuk has long been at the center of disputes between the federal government in Baghdad and the Erbil-based Kurdistan Regional Government KRG.
Karzan Kawa, married and father of three children, was arrested after the incident by a police rescue squad called in by the traffic police. Four members of the squad filed complaints against Karzan, and the fifth initially refused but filed a complaint two days later (on Sunday).
On Saturday, Karzan went to the accident site to check for surveillance cameras. A traffic police officer present at the scene said, "How dare you ask us for the surveillance camera footage? File a complaint against me too."
Karwan, speaking to Kirkuk Now while in Kirkuk court about the case, mentioned that members of the traffic squad were present.
According to Karwan, the traffic police claimed that "Karzan said, 'I will demote the rank on your shoulder.'"
Karzan's family filed a lawsuit against the traffic police squad on Sunday, October 12, accusing them of torturing their son and attended the first court session.
Karwan emphasized that upon his arrival at the accident site, the traffic officer called him and "kissed me."
"The officer said my brother wasn't guilty. We asked him for his vehicle annual card and driver's license, and he immediately handed them over. We were joking when we told him we were going to fine him. We didn't expect him to get angry and for things to get out of hand."
The case has been referred to court, and members of the traffic police refuse to withdraw the complaints and have distanced themselves from making any statements about the case.
An official source, who declined to be named, informed KirkukNow that "The case has reached the court, and complaints have been filed. The Ministry of Interior is aware of the case. Otherwise, we wouldn't have let it escalate this far and would have addressed it. But the situation is no longer in our hands."
Both the Kirkuk Traffic Director and the Traffic Directorate's media officer declined to comment on the case, despite KirkukNow's attempts to contact them.
