The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged on Wednesday that Iraqi Kurdish authorities release Kurdish journalist Sherwan Sherwani after a court extended his prison sentence, stating: “Sentencing Sherwani for a third time on dubious charges and imposing the maximum penalty shows the authorities’ determination to silence his critical voice and keep him behind bars.”
Sherwani was sentenced to an additional four years and five months in prison by the Bnaslawa Misdemeanor Court on Tuesday, as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) faces ongoing scrutiny over press freedom and the treatment of independent journalists.
His lawyer, Mohammed Abdullah, called the sentence “oppressive” and “predetermined,” noting that it repeats prior rulings. The charge stems from allegations that Sherwani threatened a counter-terrorism officer and his family while in detention, under Article 229 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which addresses assaults against state employees. Sherwani denies the accusations, and his legal team has indicated plans to appeal.
Sherwani, a freelance journalist and political commentator, has long covered human rights, corruption, and military activity in northern Iraq. He was first arrested in 2020, and in 2021, the Erbil Criminal Court sentenced him to six years on charges of “undermining national security.” A presidential decree later reduced his sentence, and subsequent convictions in 2023 extended his imprisonment for document-related allegations, later reduced on appeal, culminating in the current 2025 sentence.
Human rights organizations say Sherwani’s case reflects broader systemic repression in the KR-I. Amnesty International documented arbitrary arrests, torture allegations, and unfair trials, noting that in 2023, 37 journalists were arrested and 27 faced attacks or threats. The Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy corroborates these figures, highlighting patterns of intimidation and coerced confessions. Bissan Fakih, Amnesty’s Iraq campaigner, said, “No one should face harassment and intimidation simply for carrying out their journalistic work. Authorities should uphold human rights and press freedom.”
At the same time, the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate (KJS) reported 45 media and journalist rights violations in 2024, including arrests, coverage bans, attacks, and confiscation of equipment. The International Federation of Journalists noted that while this represents a decline from previous years, the persistence of such violations underscores ongoing threats to journalists’ safety and independence. These developments stand in contrast to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s assertion that the region is a “beacon of press freedom.”
