MESOPOTAMIA NEWS INVESTIGATION : Rights groups call for KRG investigation into attack on Sulaimani-based journalist

17 hours ago  – 28 March 2020 –  Karwan Faidhi Dri RUDAW

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Journalist advocacy groups have called on  Kurdistan Region authorities to conduct a swift investigation into a recent attack on a Kurdish-Iranian journalist and activist in Sulaimani province.
Adnan Rashidi, who contributes to some Kurdish outlets in the Region and is a member of the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KHRA), was attacked by three to five people at his home in Penjwen on March 11.His wife and daughter were held hostage during the ordeal, Rashidi told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Rashidi sustained a fractured skull and broken limbs in the attack, according to photos shared by the KHRA. The attackers also filmed his wife naked and later threatened to publish the video if Rashidi reveals what was done to him, he told the CPJ.

His electronic devices, which contained details on Iran-based activists reporting on human rights violations, were taken by the attackers.

Rashidi, who was previously jailed in Iran for eight years for his work, said that he recognized the voice of one of the attackers, who he believes was once his driver while on a reporting assignment. He added that he was recently threatened to death by someone who claimed to work for Iranian intelligence.

“He said all the people I was reporting on were terrorists and offered me a new life in Europe in exchange for quitting my job. When I refused, he threatened to kill me,” Rashidi told the CPJ.
Police in Sulaimani said in a statement on March 17 that forces in Penjwen had arrested two suspects, and an investigation was underway.

Penjwen police said in a Friday statement that both the suspects, aged 37 and 30, were arrested subject to a court warrant.

“The main convict confessed to the crime in front of the judge and named the second convict,” read the statement seen by Rudaw.

“The journalist’s belongings were recovered and his family released,” it added.

The CPJ on Thursday  called on the Kurdistan Regional Government to carry out a “swift and thorough investigation into the torture and robbery” and hold the perpetrators to account.

“The brutal assault of Adnan Rashidi and attack against his family should not go unpunished,” said CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado.

“Iraqi Kurdish authorities must leave no stone unturned in pursuing his assailants. The best way to ensure that such attacks do not happen again is to bring all the perpetrators to justice,” he added.

The Sulaimani-based Metro Centre for Journalists Rights and Advocacy also called on the security forces to arrest the attackers.

“We call on the security forces of the Kurdistan Region to arrest the attackers as soon as possible,” Metro director Diari Mohammed told Rudaw English.