Kurdistan Region court adds 4 years 5 months to journalist Sherwan Sherwani's sentence weeks before his release date; 2020 torture allegations were not investigated
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Journalist Sherwan Sherwani was arrested in October 2020 and sentenced to six years on national security charges, then given four more years in July 2023. On 19 August 2025 the Bnaslawa Misdemeanor Court added four years and five months under Article 229 of the Iraqi Penal Code over an alleged threat to a counter-terrorism officer, weeks before his scheduled 9 September 2025 release. Sherwani denies the accusation and his lawyer called the sentence predetermined and said he would appeal. Amnesty International says torture allegations from the original trial were not investigated and describes a practice of issuing new convictions to journalists about to be released.
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- JURIST
extended the sentence by four years and five months on 19 August 2025 under Article 229
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