DUHOK, Kurdistan Region — The Duhok Criminal Court sentenced Sleman Ahmad, a journalist with the PKK-affiliated Roj News Agency from Rojava (northeastern Syria), to three years in prison on Monday. Ahmad was found guilty of espionage charges related to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The sentencing followed 279 days of detention.
Luqman Ahmad, the journalist’s lawyer, confirmed the sentence to Zoom News. He stated that Sleman Ahmad was convicted under Article 1 of Law No. 21 of 2003, which allows for life imprisonment for actions that harm the security or stability of the Kurdistan Region.
The defense criticized the trial, arguing that the prosecution had not provided sufficient evidence. Luqman Ahmad described the proceedings as highly “unfair,” claiming that there was no concrete evidence to support the charges.
Ahmad’s initial hearing was scheduled for June 30 but was postponed to Monday. This extended his detention period and led to the controversial verdict.
The Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy condemned the ruling in a statement. They described the decision as unjust and called for its immediate reversal. The Center argued that Law No. 35 of 2007, which oversees journalism, should have been applied instead.
Ahmad, who worked as a journalist and news editor for the Arabic section of Roj News Agency, was arrested on October 25, 2023. He was apprehended by Duhok’s security forces at the Fishkhabour border crossing while returning to work in Sulaimani province after attending his father’s funeral in Rojava.
Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged the Kurdistan Region’s authorities to release Syrian journalist Sleman Ahmad “immediately and unconditionally.” The organization called for all charges against him to be dropped, highlighting that he had been detained for eight months.
