Journalist Sleman Ahmed, Arabic editor for the local news website RojNews, an outlet that backs the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and reports on its activities, is serving a three-year prison sentence after he was convicted of espionage.
Ahmed was arrested by Iraqi Kurdish authorities at the northern Faysh Khabur border and taken to an unknown location on October 25, 2023.
The journalist’s brother Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed and RojNews editor in chief Botan Garmiyani said that Ahmed was returning from a visit to his family in Syria when his family lost contact with him at Faysh Khabur, which is part of the Duhok Governorate.
The Security Directorate (Asayish), which is responsible for border security in Duhok Governorate, said in a statement on its Facebook page that Ahmed’s arrest had nothing to do with his journalism but was because of his “secret and illegal” work for the PKK.
The PKK is a militant group and political party that is legal in Iraqi Kurdistan but is classified as a terrorist group by the United States, European Union, and Turkey.
Asayish said that Ahmed had confessed to his actions during the investigation and would be brought to court and dealt with according to the law.
The journalist’s brother told CPJ that Ahmed was “never a fighter but only a journalist.”
Garmiyani also rejected the allegations against Ahmed, who he said had been working for RojNews since 2018, possessed all the necessary legal documents, and had never been arrested before.
On July 29, 2024, after more than nine months in detention, Ahmed was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Duhok criminal court on espionage charges.
Authorities charged Ahmed with espionage on behalf of the PKK, according to Ramazan Tartisi, one of Ahmed’s lawyers, who spoke to CPJ. Tartisi and Luqman Ahmed, another member of the legal team who has no relation to the journalist, told CPJ that the journalist denied the charges and has appealed the ruling.
The charges were “merely a means to retaliate against the journalist,” Luqman Ahmed told CPJ, saying that the court had no evidence for the conviction and the legal process was “very unfair,” adding that the lawyers were only allowed to attend the trial after pressure from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq and foreign consulates.
He is held in Dohuk Correctional prison. CPJ was unable to determine the status of the journalist’s health in custody.
CPJ’s call to Duhok Asayish Director Zeravan Baroshky for comment did not receive any reply.