The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Injustice Against Journalist Sherwan Sherwani!
Zamo Saeed – Activist
The Kurdistan Regional Government, once praised in the Middle East as a “beacon of democracy,” is increasingly beginning to resemble the very authoritarian regimes from which it once sought to distinguish itself. At the heart of this democratic illusion, the case of Sherwan Sherwani has become a living symbol of the suppression of freedom of speech in the Kurdistan Region.
As is clear, Sherwani’s imprisonment began in 2020. Every time he approaches his release date, the authorities either invent or fabricate new charges to keep him behind bars.
1- 2021: He was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of “espionage,” simply because he had met with foreign consuls and reported on corruption.
2- 2023: Just before he was due to be released, four more years were added to his sentence for “forgery,” because he had signed a request in the name of his cellmate (with the cellmate’s permission).
3- 2025: A few weeks before he was scheduled to be released in September, the court added another four years and five months to his sentence for allegedly “threatening” a prison officer — an accusation his lawyers say is unsupported by any physical evidence or even prison surveillance footage.
As is widely known, today marks the 16th day of Sherwani’s hunger strike in prison. He began the strike on Kurdish Journalism Day to demand his basic rights. While prison leave and transfers are routinely granted to other inmates for up to a week every few months, the regional government has specifically blocked Sherwani’s requests for temporary visits to his family or for his case to be transferred to the courts of Sulaymaniyah.
According to his family and lawyers, Sherwani’s health condition is extremely poor. He suffers from high blood pressure and chronic pain. The only remaining tool he has to protest is his own body, which he is using to resist a government that has abandoned the rule of law for its own interests.
The current behavior of the Kurdistan Regional Government is a betrayal of the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom. Using the judiciary as a weapon to silence critics, the government’s treatment of Sherwan Sherwani is a stain on the reputation of the Kurdistan Region. A government that fears a journalist armed only with a pen is a government facing a moral crisis.
My only demand regarding Sherwani’s case is this: Sherwan Sherwani must be released immediately, unconditionally, and without delay.
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