Eighteen Organisations Call for Immediate Release of Journalist Sherwan Sherwani

PUKMEDIA

Journalist Sherwan Sherwani.

Leading local and international press freedom organisations – among them Reporters for Rights and Development and the Pargraph Media Platform – have issued a joint statement urging the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Sherwan Sherwani and to cease using legislation as a tool to criminalise journalists.

The organisations stressed that the authorities must demonstrate a genuine commitment to human rights and the rule of law by taking concrete measures to safeguard the security and independence of all journalists working in the region.

According to the statement, the exploitation of the judicial system to penalise journalists such as Sherwani represents a grave breach of international human rights standards and undermines the KRG’s own declared commitment to justice. Sherwani’s case, it added, highlights a worrying deterioration in press freedom across the Middle East, where dissenting voices are being silenced.

Signed by 18 organisations, the declaration stated:

“The KRG must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Sherwan Sherwani and put an end to judicial harassment.”

The signatories, who advocate for press freedom, human rights, and media independence, asserted that Sherwani’s imprisonment is wholly unjust and based solely on his journalistic work and criticism of corruption and rights abuses.


On 20 August 2025, the Erbil Criminal Court handed Sherwani a further sentence of four years and five months. This marks the third sentence against him since 2021, each of which international organisations have dismissed as “fabricated and politically motivated”.

The statement underlined that Sherwani’s prolonged detention is damaging the Kurdistan Region’s standing abroad as a territory that purports to uphold democratic values. It called on the authorities to take urgent and practical steps to reverse this course and to renew their commitment to press freedom, human dignity, and the rule of law.

Signatories:
1.Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
2.Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
3.Community Peace Teams (CPT)
4.International Press Institute (IPI)
5.Middle East and North Africa Rights Group (MENA Rights Group)
6.Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights Advocacy
7.Jasna Organisation for Freedom of Thought and Media
8.International Rights Institute (IRI)
9.Reporters for Rights and Development
10.Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq (PFAA)
11.Iraqi Journalists’ Rights Advocacy Association
12.Active Watch
13.Humana for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
14.Paragraph Media Platform
15.Democracy for the Arab World Now – DAWN
16.INSM Digital Rights Organisation
17.International Cartoonists Rights Network
18.Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)



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