Iraqi Kurd court extends detention of opposition leader

Head of the Iraqi Kurdish "New Generation Movement" Shaswar Abdulwahid Qadir speaks during a rally his movement called for to protest corruption and scarcity of services, in Freedom square in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah, on February 22, 2020. (FILE/AFP)

• A court in Iraqi Kurdistan on Thursday extended the detention of opposition leader Shaswar Abdulwahid following his arrest last week
• His detention stemmed from a six-month prison sentence handed down in absentia after he repeatedly failed to attend hearings in a defamation case filed by a former MP

SULAIMANIYAH: A court in Iraqi Kurdistan on Thursday extended the detention of opposition leader Shaswar Abdulwahid following his arrest last week, his party said.
Abdulwahid — who heads the New Generation party, which holds 15 of the 100 seats in the autonomous northern region’s parliament — was taken into custody on August 12.
His detention stemmed from a six-month prison sentence handed down in absentia after he repeatedly failed to attend hearings in a defamation case filed by a former MP, a judicial official said.
The opposition leader appeared before a judge on Thursday in a hearing attended by dozens of supporters, lawmaker Omed Mohammed of the New Generation party told AFP.
Abdulwahid’s lawyer had sought his release on bail, a request the judge denied.
Court spokesman Salah Hassan said the refusal was due to Abdulwahid’s failure to appear for hearings and questioning.
“This does not give the judge sufficient guarantees for a bail release... which could disrupt future proceedings,” he told AFP.
Abdulwahid has been arrested several times since he launched the party in 2017. He was also wounded in an assassination attempt.
The region’s ruling alliance of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has been criticized by human rights groups for its intolerance of dissent and for resorting to arbitrary arrests.
Abdulwahid’s trial was adjourned until August 28.