Journalists are the courageous voices in society, and their free speech should not be silenced
CPT Iraqi Kurdistan team and civil activists in the press conference.
In a press conference on October 12, CPT Iraqi Kurdistan team published a statement in response to Dindar Zebary, Head of the High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International Reports.
Dindar Zebary, announced in his statement that Sherwani was arrested according to Article 156 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which convicts him with life imprisonment. If such a verdict stands, Sherwani would never be with his family again.
We would like to give our thanks to the activists and journalists for their solidarity to the #FREESHERWANSHERWANI and #FREETHEMALL campaigns.
The whole statement is below:
Journalists are the courageous voices in society, and their free speech should not be silenced.
A Response to Dindar Zebary, Head of the High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International Reports.
On October 7, 2020, a group of ten armed and unidentified men entered the independent journalist Sherwan Sherwani’s home in Sebiran neighborhood in Erbil and seized his computer, recorder, camera, and phone. The group then held a gun to Sherwani’s head in front of his wife and children and abducted him. Half an hour after he was abducted, Sherwani’s family informed Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Iraqi Kurdistan and reported how the group entered their house and abducted Sherwani.
Since Sherwani was abducted five days ago, we as CPT Iraqi Kurdistan were expecting that the Kurdistan Regional Government and its security agencies would disclose Sherwan Sherwani’s location. CPT Iraqi Kurdistan expected the Kurdistan Regional Government to tell the public about his case and adjudicate him under Law No. 35 in 2007 relating to the work of journalism.
But unfortunately Dindar Zebary, the Head of the High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International Reports, announced in his statement that Sherwani was arrested according to Article 156 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which convicts him with life imprisonment. If such a verdict stands, Sherwani would never be with his family again. In his statement, Zebary claimed that Sherwani confessed that he was criticizing politicians and receiving funds from outside of Iraqi Kurdistan to create instability in the country. Zerbary also accused Sherwani of threatening the lives of judges and inspiring peaceful demonstrations to become violent.
We reject these accusations of Sherwan Sherwani by Dindar Zebary. Sherwani has been our partner since 2017 as a civil society activist and we have worked closely with him and have knowledge about the reputation of his work. Sherwani works hard through his journalism to defend freedom and social justice, and build a transparent system with no corruption. Through his writing, Sherwan has always asked for the protection of human rights principles and for establishing social peace in Kurdistan. In the last three years, in the three cases Sherwan has faced abductions, arrests and threats, our team accompanied Sherwani and we witnessed these threats and harassment as attempts to silence his journalism.
Besides the abduction of Sherwan Sherwani, we also express our deepest concerns about the arrests of Badal Barwary, Omed Barushky and Dilshad Guharzy, who have been imprisoned in Zerka prison for 52 days because they called for a demonstration and demanded that incomes of government employees be paid. The Kurdistan Regional Government must respect freedom of speech rather than arrest journalists, activists and protesters. We call on the Kurdistan Regional Government to provide salaries and incomes for its citizens.
Christian Peacemaker Teams- Iraqi Kurdistan
12 October. 2020