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Top Kurdish protests organizer arrested in
Sulaimaniyah and go to jail for a month
2.5.2011 |
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May 2, 2011
SULAIMANIYAH,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — A court in Sulaimaniyah,
Kurdistan Region’s second largest city, has ordered
the detention of one of the top leaders and
organizers of the Sulaimaniyah protests that left 10
killed and hundreds injured.
Dr
Faruq Rafiq, an intellectual and researcher in
philosophical field, a member of the Temporary
Council, for organizing demonstrations in Azadi
Square, was arrested Monday by Kurdish security
forces [Asayish] who will serve alone-month term in
jail.
Rafiq, who was also a member of a temporary
committee to represent the protesters, was an active
speaker during the Sulaimaniyah protests where
demonstrators in Azadi Square first called for
political reforms but later complete government
dissolution.
Faruq’s arrest come after the security service of
Sulaimaniyah filed a lawsuit against him on charges
of staging,www.ekurd.netand
participating in, unlicensed demonstrations.
Under a demo law passed by the parliament of
Kurdistan Region last year, demonstrations and
rallies have to be approved by the authorities
before being staged.
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Dr.
Faruq Rafiq,
a Canadian citizen, an intellectual and researcher in
philosophical field, a member of the Temporary
Council, for organizing demonstrations in Azadi
Square was arrested Monday by Kurdish security
forces [Asayish] who will serve alone-month term in
jail. |
The law however, has
been criticized by the opposition forces and
journalists saying it restricts freedom of
demonstration because it gives the authorities the
power to reject any demonstration that they don’t
like.
Rafiq had announced
earlier that he was not ready to pay a IQD200,000
(about US$180) bail and that he would go to jail for
a month.
Rafiq’s attorney Karwan Kamal told AK news that
Rafiq attended the court from where he was
transferred to jail.
“Despite efforts to convince him to pay the bail
instead of going to jail, but he refused” Kamal
said.
For the past two months thousands of protesters are gathering daily
in Sulaimaniyah and other parts of Kurdistan against
corruption and the lording over Kurdistan region by
two main parties KDP and PUK. Kurdish
protestors demand the ouster of the local Kurdistan
government KRG, calling for improving services and
living conditions and fighting corruption.
After 62 days of protests, the Governorate of of
Sulaimaniyah has banned unlicensed demonstrations in
the city. Heavy Kurdish forces
deployed in the
Sulaimaniyah city to prevent any demonstrations, and
still occupying the city center and other parts of
Sulaimaniyah.
Most of the demonstrators opposed Massoud Barzani, and the ruling
Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP. Ten people
were
killed and more than 700 others wounded and 220
more have been arrested in clashes between
demonstrators and Kurdish security forces during a
wave or protests that swept Sulaimaniyah. The
Kurdish security forces (Asayish) arrested and
tortured a lot of activists and
journalists.
The protesters demand the Kurdish government and
parliament resign to give way for “early transparent
elections”. They complain about “monopolizing the
economic and political authority,” by the two major
parties of Kurdistan. Many observe allegiance to
either of the two ruling patties a must to get
employed and hence were deprived of the right. Kurdistan suffers from
electric power deficiency but after almost 20 years
of semi autonomy.
For decades, the KDP
of regional president Massoud Barzani and the
PUK of Iraq's President
Jalal Talabani have lorded over the region.
Massoud Barzani and his relatives control a
large number of commercial enterprises in
Kurdistan-Iraq, with a gross value of several
billion US dollars. The family is routinely accused
of corruption and nepotism by Kurdish media as well
as international observers.
Iraq's Kurdish regional government has near
total autonomy and is funded by a share of the
country's oil revenue. The two parties that share
power each command former guerrilla militias that
have been given the status of regional security
forces.
Earlier Massoud Barzani told an Italian newspaper that if
50,000 Kurdistan citizens require him to step down,
he will. Afterwards, the opposition parties led a
signature campaign and reportedly collected even
more votes to oust the president. However, the
fate of those signatures is
still unclear.
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency, aknews.com
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