The Press Office of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria stated that the sentence given by the KDP judiciary to journalist Sileman Ehmed is contrary to all international standards and laws related to the profession of journalism.
Silêman Ehmed, an Arabic editor for the local news website RojNews, who was detained by KDP forces in October 2023, has been held captive in KDP prisons for 280 days. Ehmed was arrested on 25 October while entering Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region from Syria, where he had been visiting his family.
Numerous actions were organized in Kurdistan and around the world to protest this illegal detention as no trace of Silêman Ehmed could be found for 211 days. Thousands of journalists and institutions asked about the fate of the journalist and, as a result of the intense pressure, the KDP was forced to tell the lawyers where he was detained and arranged a visit on 22 May 2024.
The journalist appeared in court for the first time on 30 June. The trial at the Duhok Criminal Court was postponed to 29 July at short notice as the judge in charge called in sick shortly before the start of the hearing. In addition, the KDP's Duhok Security Directorate did not send the documents relevant to the proceedings and journalistic equipment belonging to Silêman Ehmed to the court.
The hearing of the Kurdish journalist was held at Duhok Courthouse yesterday. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
The Press Office of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) released a statement denouncing the action taken against Ehmed.
“His detention is in violation of Article 123 of the Criminal Procedure Law of 1971, as amended. According to this article, the detainee has the right to meet with his lawyers within 24 hours,” said the DAANES statement on Tuesday.
The statement said: “He was prosecuted according to the first paragraph of Law No. 21 of 2003 issued by the Bashûr (South Kurdistan) government. Our journalist friend Sileman Ehmed was working legally in the city of Sulaymaniyah. Therefore, his sentence is illegitimate and contrary to all international standards and laws related to the profession of journalism.”
The statement concluded with a call upon international institutions to take action for Ehmed’s release.
