Shafaq News – Erbil

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) expressed concern on Tuesday over the conviction of Kurdish journalist Shirwan Shirwani, who was sentenced to four and a half years in prison by the Bnaslawa Misdemeanour Court in Erbil on 19 August.

UNAMI, which attended the court session, said the ruling may be disproportionate and its application arbitrary. It noted that the court had failed to provide convincing reasoning regarding the “aggravating circumstances” that justified the sentence.

The mission underlined that the verdict remains subject to appeal and affirmed it would continue to monitor developments in the case.

UNAMI also recalled the Kurdistan Regional Government’s public commitments to uphold the rule of law and protect human rights, urging authorities in the Kurdistan Region to ensure all criminal proceedings are transparent and fair in line with both national and international standards.

Shirwani is the editor-in-chief of Ashur magazine and an active member of the human rights organization “17 Shubat.” His journalism has focused on government corruption in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He has also participated in demonstrations advocating social and political rights.

Shirwani has faced multiple prosecutions in recent years. In 2021, he was sentenced to six years in prison along with four other activists in what became known as the “Badinan case,” related to protests in Al-Sulaymaniyah over delayed salary payments. Human rights organizations at the time described the sentences as politically motivated and based on weak evidence.

In July 2023, the Erbil criminal court handed him an additional four-year sentence following a complaint by the Erbil Adult Correctional Directorate, accusing him of fabricating documents. That ruling came as he was approaching a scheduled release date in September 2023, after Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani had reduced his earlier sentence.