Lahur Sheikh Jangi expected to give evidence at Thursday’s Lalazar hearing

SULAYMANIYAH — Lahur Sheikh Jangi is expected to give a statement for the first time when the Lalazar trial resumes on Thursday, its sixth session and 391 days after the raid that produced the case.

The court is due to hear from Sheikh Jangi, his brother Polad and their associate Rebwar Hamid Haji Ghali, completing statements from all 12 defendants, said Dana Taqiaddin, spokesperson for the defence team, who was notified of the date on Monday. When a ruling might come is still unclear.

The fifth session was adjourned last Thursday without a ruling, with the defence saying detainees giving evidence appeared frightened and that families had been barred from visiting for a week. Taqiaddin said the defence was dissatisfied and alleged the proceedings were following a script. “Some statements had previously been taken from the defendants, and during today’s hearings one defendant changed his statement, which indicates that he had been under pressure,” he said. Six defendants withdrew their earlier statements on Sept. 3, telling the judge they had been obtained under torture and pressure, after which the judge questioned them again and recorded new ones.

The 12 are being tried under Article 56 of the penal code, which Taqiaddin described as covering an agreement to commit murder. PUK president Bafel Talabani and his brother Qubad Talabani are the complainants, accusing Sheikh Jangi of attempted murder and creating unrest, and neither has attended a hearing.

The case stems from Aug. 22, 2025, when security forces surrounded the Lalazar area of Sulaymaniyah where Sheikh Jangi and associates were staying. He refused to surrender and forces stormed the site after hours of clashes that killed at least five people and wounded more than 20. Three days later, PUK-linked media broadcast a recording in which people described a plan to kill Bafel Talabani and said Sheikh Jangi and security figure Azhi Amin had ordered it. His family and defence team said the recording was scripted to give the operation political and legal cover.