Lahur Sheikh Jangi gets five years in Lalazar conspiracy case

SULAYMANIYAH — A Kurdistan Region court on Thursday sentenced Lahur Sheikh Jangi to five years and three months in prison for criminal conspiracy over last year’s deadly standoff with security forces at his Lalazar headquarters in Sulaymaniyah.

Sulaymaniyah Criminal Court No. 2 sentenced his brother Polad Sheikh Jangi to three years and six months and Rebwar Hamid Haji Ghali, a commander associated with him, to two years. Two defendants, bodyguard Omar Sheikha and Keywan Mohammed Abdullah, were acquitted, and the others among the 12 received terms of 18 months to three years and six months. Time already spent in detention will count toward the sentences, defense lawyer Dana Taqiaddin said.

The verdict, at the eighth hearing, concludes the case under Article 56 of the Penal Code, which punishes taking part in an agreement to commit a felony with up to seven years in prison even if the crime is never carried out. A separate case under Article 406, which covers murder, is still pending.

Taqiaddin called the verdict politically motivated and said the defense would appeal to the Kurdistan Region’s Court of Cassation on Sunday, adding that the defendants had denied throughout that any conspiracy was committed or planned. Sheikh Jangi had urged the judges before the verdict to deliver a lawful and fair ruling, and he and his brother sarcastically applauded and laughed in protest as they left the courtroom, said Banawsha Rafiq, a lawyer who attended the hearing.

The case stems from an Aug. 22, 2025, operation at the Lalazar complex, where forces affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan tried to arrest Sheikh Jangi and his associates. It turned into hours of fighting with heavy weapons that left at least five people dead, including three security personnel, and more than 20 wounded.

The complainants are PUK President Bafel Talabani and his brother, Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, who accused Sheikh Jangi of plotting to kill Bafel Talabani and stir unrest; neither attended any of the hearings. Sheikh Jangi, a nephew of the late President Jalal Talabani, shared the PUK leadership with his cousin Bafel until he was removed in 2021. He went on to found the People’s Front, which won two seats in the Kurdistan Region’s 2024 parliamentary election.

The trial opened on May 7 after months of detention and disputes over moving the case to Erbil, and several hearings were postponed. On Sept. 3, six defendants withdrew earlier statements, saying they had been obtained through torture and pressure, and the judge took new statements. At the Sept. 17 hearing, Sheikh Jangi denied plotting to kill Bafel Talabani, and Haji Ghali testified that he had seen Bafel Talabani through a sniper scope during the fighting but never received an order to shoot.