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Commitee to Protect Journalists protests
30-year jail term for Kurdish writer
12.1.2006
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IRAQ-Kurdistan: CPJ
protests 30-year jail term for Kurdish writer on
defamation conviction
New York, January 11, 2006 -- The Committee
to Protect Journalists today called on the
authorities in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region to
overturn the conviction and 30-year prison sentence
handed down to Kurdish writer Kamal Karim for
defamation.
Karim, whose name is also given as Kamal Sayid
Qadir, was convicted by a state security court in
the city of Arbil after a one-hour-long trial on
December 19, 2005 of defaming public institutions.
Karim, 48, is an Austrian citizen. He has been in
detention since he was arrested on October 26, 2005
in Arbil by the Parastin, the security intelligence
service of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
He was found guilty under Article 1 of Law 21,
enacted by the Kurdistan National Assembly in 2003,
according to a statement issued by the Kurdistan
Regional Government . |
Dr Kamal Said Qadir, Austrian citizen, an
international legal expert, writer and human rights
activist
Photo: DIHA |
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He had published articles on Kurdistanpost, an
independent Kurdish news Web site, criticizing the
KDP and its leader Massoud Barzani, whom he accused
of corruption and abuse of power. Barzani is also
president of the Kurdistan Region.
"Kamal Karim's sentence of 30 years in prison for
expressing an opinion is an outrage that focuses
international attention on the arbitrary nature of
the justice system in Iraq's Kurdistan," said CPJ
Executive Director Ann Cooper. "We call on President
Barzani to dissociate himself from this draconian
punishment meted out by a court that did not grant
the defendant a fair hearing and due process. We
urge the court of appeals to overturn the
conviction."
Cooper added, "In the meantime, we call on President
Barzani and the Kurdish authorities to examine all
possible legal options to ensure that this sentence
is dismissed."
In an e-mail to his family which was seen by CPJ,
Karim said his trial lasted barely one hour. A state
security officer had told him beforehand that the
court would release him, and that his appearance was
merely procedural. When he arrived in court,
however, Karim realized that he was being tried. He
had only five minutes to confer with a defense
lawyer, he wrote in the e-mail.
Karim is appealing the verdict. He went on hunger
strike on December 26, 2005, to protest his trial
but stopped after nine days following a visit by the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
Austrian President Heinz Fischer said he raised
Karim's case with Barzani, during a conference in
Austria on November 11, 2005. The Austrian foreign
ministry is currently reviewing the case.
www.cpj.org
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