7 days ago
Prominent opposition leader in Iraq's Kurdistan arrested by security forces
Security authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq arrested late on Tuesday the prominent opposition leader Shaswar Abdulwahid, his New Generation Movement announced.
The party claimed that security forces affiliated with the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party of breaking into his home and arresting him 'without any legal process', it said in the statement, adding that his whereabouts is still unknown.
'A force affiliated to a party arrested the leader of the largest opposition group,' it added. 'This carries nothing but shame and disgrace,' it said.
'Neither Shaswar Abdulwahid nor the New Generation can be subdued, and we, Shaswar's comrades, will continue the path of justice and righteousness'.
According to a judicial decree document dated August 3, Mr Abdulwahid has been sentenced to six months in absentia under Article 431 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which penalises threatening behaviour or attributing dishonourable matters. No more details were released on the charges.
The New Generation Movement was established in 2017 as a liberal political party in Sulaymaniyah province. Since then it has emerged as a powerful opposition group which challenged the influential tradition parties PUK and its rival Kurdistan Democratic Party.
It came third in October last year in Kurdistan's parliamentary elections after KDP and PUK, winning 15 seats in the 111-seat legislative body. Political wrangling between the rivals have derailed forming the new government in Kurdistan.
In March 2019, Mr Abdulwahid appeared in court in Sulaymaniyah on charges of "assaulting state employees" and defamation after an altercation at the airport. He was arrested, held briefly, and released on bail. The New Generation party denounced the charges as politically motivated and accused the region's dominant parties of influencing the judiciary.
