Kurdish Journalist Niyaz Abdulla, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2019. Photo: Screengrab/Sterk Rawej TV/YouTube
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Journalist Niyaz Abdulla was acquitted by a court in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday for lack of evidence after she was sued by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani’s nephew, Matin Barzani.
She was arrested along with fellow journalist Hemin Mamand on October 27, 2019 in connection with an article they published about the July 17 murder of a Turkish diplomat and two others at Huqqabaz restaurant in Erbil.
Mamand was released at an earlier date.
“The Erbil court did not find any believable evidence for the accusation of Matin Dlovan Idris Barzani, so they decided to close the case,” Abdulla said.
“If Matin Dlovan acted to fulfill justice by using the court as revenge tool against me, before that, let him come and I’ll take him to the court and we’ll remove the pictures of his grandfathers, fathers, and cousins from the walls of the court,” Abdulla added.
Despite its nominal independence, politically connected individuals regularly use the Kurdistan Region’s judicial system in a venue to try to intimidate journalists into silence.
Copyright © 2020, respective author or news agency, nrttv.com