Kurdish journalist Süleyman Ahmet was released from 454 days in prison in Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq today, Monday, two weeks after the Court of Appeals of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) overturned his original three-year sentence.
Ahmet, a resident of Sulaymaniyah (Silêmanî) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), traveled to Aleppo (Heleb), Syria, on 1 October 2023, to visit relatives. However, during his return journey on 25 October 2023, he was arrested at the Fish Khabour (Simalka) border gate by forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). For six months, his whereabouts remained unknown.
It later emerged that five days after his arrest the KDP had accused Ahmet of spying for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claiming his detention was unrelated to his journalistic work. On 9 July, a court in Duhok sentenced him to three years in prison on charges of allegedly undermining the KRI’s security. However, on 6 January, the KRI’s Court of Appeals exonerated Ahmet, though his release was only implemented on 20 January.
