We offer gratitude that six of the 81 Badinan Activists were recently released after being sentenced to a year in prison on unjustified criminal charges in a trial in the Criminal Court in Erbil. Badal Bawari, Dr. Aamer Khalid, Fersat Ahmed, Sleman Kamal, Jamal Khalil Majeed, and Sleman Mousa were convicted and sentenced to one year in prison and subsequently released as they had already been detained for over one year. We express concern that these men were falsely arrested, suffered harsh prison conditions and treatment, and were wrongfully judged as criminals by the court.
Pray for all the Badinan Prisoners who are not criminals but political prisoners punished for confronting oppression and exposing corruption in the ruling political party of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Pray for their families who live with the trauma of having beloved family members arrested and imprisoned and having little or no access to them in prison or in court. Pray for the defence lawyers who also have little or no access to their clients and must defend them in court without witnesses or cross-examination.
