New Generation lawmakers voice concern over Shaswar Abdulwahid’s health in detention

SULAYMANIYAH — Lawmakers from the New Generation Movement said Wednesday they are deeply concerned about the health of their leader, Shaswar Abdulwahid, who has been held in a Sulaymaniyah detention and transfer facility since his arrest earlier this month.

“Information has reached us that Shaswar Abdulwahid’s health condition has deteriorated in prison,” said Sarwa Abdulwahid, head of the New Generation bloc in Iraq’s parliament. She told 964media the party has been denied visitation rights. “We still do not know whether Shaswar Abdulwahid has been transferred to a hospital or not,” she added.

Asked about the cause of the reported decline, she said: “We do not know more details, the authorities are not giving us any information.” She described the restrictions as unlawful and said they “confirm once again that the case of Shaswar Abdulwahid is political, not legal.”

Kurdiwan Jamal, head of the New Generation bloc in the Kurdistan Parliament, echoed the concerns. “The fact that they are not allowing us to see him creates suspicion about his condition,” he told 964media, adding that the party is pressing for a New Generation medical team to visit him in custody.

Judiciary spokesperson Salah Hassan denied having any knowledge of health issues. “We have not been informed of any deterioration in the health condition of Shaswar Abdulwahid, and we have no information about his situation,” he told 964media. He said Abdulwahid “is currently held at the detention and transfer facility operated by Sulaymaniyah Police.”

Police officials did not respond to repeated requests by 964media for comment.

Abdulwahid, founder of NRT television and leader of the New Generation Movement, was arrested Aug. 12 at his home in Sulaymaniyah’s German Village neighborhood under a court-issued warrant. A document dated Aug. 3 showed he had been sentenced in absentia to six months in prison under Article 431 of Iraq’s Penal Code, which covers defamation.

The case was filed in 2019 by Shadia Nawzad, then a New Generation lawmaker who later joined the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. She accused Abdulwahid of harassment and blackmail before leaving the party.

A New Generation official said Abdulwahid appeared in court on Aug. 21 alongside Nawzad and that proceedings are scheduled to continue on Aug. 28.

Following his arrest, New Generation lawmakers accused security forces of raiding his home illegally and described the detention as politically motivated. The party has sought to position itself as an alternative to the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan ahead of Iraq’s Nov. 11 parliamentary election.

It came days before another opposition party leader, Lahur Sheikh Jangi, was arrested in a violent standoff