Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani issues special pardons for convicts

ERBIL – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani has issued a series of special pardons, leading to the reduction of sentences for several convicts, including journalists and religious scholars, 964media can reveal.

Among those to be released is Ismail Susai, a prominent Islamic scholar, who will be freed on Thursday after serving six years in prison on two terrorism-related charges. On September 15, 2019, an Erbil court sentenced Susai to six years for pledging allegiance to ISIS. Later, on Sept. 30, 2019, he received an additional six-year sentence for planning an armed attack on the Erbil Governorate building in 2018.

A source familiar with the matter told 964media that Susai’s release is due to a special pardon from the Kurdistan presidency, specifically for the second charge related to the attack on the Erbil Governorate.

Another notable pardon has been granted to imprisoned journalist Qaraman Shukri, reducing his sentence by 60%. He “is due to be released very soon,” according to the source. Shukri, a photojournalist, was sentenced to seven years in June 2021 in a secret trial without a lawyer present for violating Article 156 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which bans actions that threaten the country’s unity, independence, or security.

Ghazi Sabir Dizeyee, Head of the Legal Affairs Department in the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region, confirmed the special pardons to 964media, stating, “More than 10 special pardons have been issued by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in the last six months, including those for Susai and Shukri.”

Dizeyee outlined the purposes behind these special pardons: “First, in the public interest, such as granting a pardon to an Arab or Turkmen individual to help foster a sense of security [within their communities] in the Kurdistan Region. Second, to promote justice for those who may not have been able to fully defend themselves during their trials or prove their innocence. Third, for humanitarian reasons, such as when the convicted are ill, lack family support, or have already served a significant portion of their sentence.,” he explained, citing Article 10 of Law No. (1) of 2005, which authorizes the Kurdistan Region President to issue special decrees for convicts.

Dizeyee also mentioned a recent pardon issued for a woman convicted of killing her daughter with her husband, stating, “While we know that no mother would kill her child, some pardons are granted based on recommendations from other institutions, like the Independent Human Rights Commission in the Kurdistan Region.”

He added, “More special pardons will be issued in the coming months for the reasons I have mentioned.”

Additionally, Dizeyee noted that a new nine-member committee has been formed to evaluate the health conditions of convicts in Kurdistan Region prisons to determine whether additional leniency could be extended.

In a similar move, on February 23, 2022, the sentences of five Duhok journalists and activists were reduced by 60% following a decree by President Barzani. The five had been tried in February 2021 on charges of “endangering the national security of the Kurdistan Region” and were sentenced to six years in prison, sparking outrage from media watchdogs and human rights groups. They were among dozens arrested during anti-government protests in Duhok in 2020 over unpaid wages.

At the time, Human Rights Watch criticized the legal proceedings, stating, “The proceedings in the Erbil Criminal Court were marred by serious violations of fair trial standards as well as high-level political interference.” Belkis Wille, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, added, “Flawed trials in the Kurdistan Region are nothing new, but flaunting the most basic principles of justice to punish people for allegedly planning protests is a new low.”