Kurdistan Region Presidency calls for Lalazar cases to proceed without interference

ERBIL — The Kurdistan Region Presidency said Tuesday that legal proceedings related to detainees from last August’s Lalazar incidents must proceed without interference and in accordance with the law, as People’s Front leader Lahur Sheikh Jangi continues a hunger strike in detention.

Presidency spokesperson Dilshad Shahab said decisions on transferring cases between courts are “a purely judicial matter” falling within the authority of the courts, and that “all cases proceed through their legal course, free from any interference or pressure,” stressing that detainees’ rights must be protected and that courts should issue decisions “within their legal timeframe and according to established legal procedures.”

The statement comes after Lahur Sheikh Jangi and his brother Polad began a hunger strike Sunday, with Sheikh Jangi accusing PUK leader Bafel Talabani and KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani of pressuring courts to prevent his case from reaching the Court of Cassation. “We have been unjustly imprisoned for eight months, far from all institutional and legal norms,” he said.

Sheikh Jangi was arrested on August 22, 2025, after security forces stormed the Lalazar Hotel in Sulaymaniyah following hours of clashes that killed at least five people and wounded more than 20. He appeared before a judge for the first time on January 12, when the court referred his case to the Erbil Court of Cassation for review — a transfer his lawyer says has still not been completed despite nine formal requests.