On 16 February, the 2nd Erbil Criminal Court, in the Kurdish Region of Iraq’s capital, sentenced activists and journalists Sherwan Sherwani, Ghudar Zebari, Hussein Issa, Ayaz Karan and Shvan Saeed to six years in prison following an unfair trial, based on trumped-up charges of “destabilizing the security and stability of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I)”. The five journalists are now on hunger strike as they await the appeal verdict expected to take place by 16 March. They must be immediately and unconditionally released.
