The trial of five Badinan Prisoners from the town of Sheladze—Mahmood Naji, Amjad Yusuf, Kovan Tariq, Yousuf Sharif and Nechir Badi—was held in the criminal court in Erbil on Monday 16 May. All five prisoners indicated that they were tortured during their imprisonment and held in deplorable conditions, including crowding 140 men into a cell intended to accommodate 40 people. As in previous trials for Badinan Prisoners, they had no access to lawyers and no witnesses or evidence were produced. A three-judge panel unjustly convicted the five men and sentenced them to two years in prison. Since they have already served most of their sentence, CPT-IK hopes that they will soon be released.
Please pray for the prompt release of Mahmood Naji, Amjad Yusuf, Kovan Tariq, Yousuf Sharif and Nechir Badi so that they can return home to their families in Sheladze.
Also, pray for the other Badinan Prisoners who remain unjustly imprisoned on false accusations of criminal subversion of the state without access to defence lawyers or trials.
