On 13 April 2016, PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan) member and Kurdish patriot Kemal Şêx Sadiq, also known as Kemal Pencewînî, was abducted in Sulaymaniyah's Pencewîn district and was murdered thereafter. During today’s court hearing in Sulaymaniyah, two culprits received a death sentence.

The family of Pencewînî, their lawyers, members of Tevgera Azadî (Freedom Movement), representatives of many civil society organisations and lawyers as well as several citizens that are concerned of the case, attended the hearing today to witness the judicial ruling. Because the court room was already filled, the citizens waited outside carrying pictures of Pencewînî.

Following a hearing of three hours, the court board announced its decision of death sentence for culprits Mesud Eshed Mecîdî and Sîna Mihemed Emîn Şerîfî. The court ruled the verdict basing on the Clause 2 of Article 2 of Act 3 enacted by the Parliament of Kurdistan Regional Government in 2016 in relation to crimes of terror.

After the announcement of the decision, the lawyer of Pencewînî's family, Sîrwan Ehmed, made a statement in front of the court and stressed that this case was processed within the frame of "crimes of terror", only after their repeated appeal against the treatment of case as an isolated incident.

Speaking after, Pencewînî's wife Çinar Xan expressed the partial relieve the relatives feel after justice prevailed, independent from the punishment, and said: "The court of Sulaymaniyah made a just judgement today. I hope that the court will make just and courageous decisions also on the murders of the other human rights activists and journalists. We express our gratitude to everyone who have been supporting us from the very first day until today. Long live PJAK. And congratulations to all those who struggle for freedom, for the judgement made today."

Father of Martyr Surkew spoke on behalf of the '17 February Martyrs', and congratulated the court delegation with the words, "I thought until today that we do not have any independent court system in Southern Kurdistan, but I see that we have some courageous courts."

After the statements, the people chanted slogans "Martyrs never die", "Kemal will never die" and "Long Live Leader Apo".

WHO IS KEMAL PENCEWÎNÎ?

Kemal Şêx Sadiq, also known as Kemal Pencewînî, was born in 1967 to a patriotic family in Pencewîn. In 1983, at the age of 16, he joined the peshmerga, but was taken hostage by the Iraqi regime in 1989, and held in prison until 1992. After he was freed in the wake of the 'Raperîn'-uprising and served 25 years in the peshmerga, he was this time arrested by the Regional Government of Southern Kurdistan in 2011.

Pencewînî got to know the Kurdish freedom movement in 1997. On 13 April 2016, Pencewîn was abducted along with another citizen named Sidîq Salyawayî, and was later discovered murdered, with scars indicating heavy torture, and 13 bullets in his body.

The family of Pencewînî says that the Iranian secret service and some powers within Southern Kurdistan are behind this incident.