An Erbil court has once again sentenced journalist Sherwan Sherwani to an additional 4.5 years, to keep him in prison. His lawyers say the case had been concealed from them, and during today’s trial his family, along with several activist and MPs, were assaulted.

Prominent journalist Sherwan Sherwani has now been sentenced for the third time, this time to four years and five months in prison by an Erbil court. He has been imprisoned by KDP since 2020 and has already faced two previous convictions.

In this latest ruling, Sherwani was convicted under Article 229 of the Iraqi Penal Code, after an officer claimed that Sherwani had “insulted” him while on duty. His lawyers had long suspected that such a case was being deliberately withheld, with the court previously claiming it had “disappeared.” They believe it was intentionally kept hidden until just before his release, in order to extend his imprisonment. Sherwani had in fact been due for release this September.

Sherwani has been incarcerated since October 2020 in Erbil. His original six-year sentence was reduced by 50% by Kurdistan Regional President Nechirvan Barzani, making him eligible for release in September 2023. However, in July 2023 he faced a second conviction, accused of forging fellow imprisoned journalist Guhdar Zebari’s signature on a petition from August 2022—a charge that was widely questioned, as Zebari himself was present in court and testified that his signature had not been falsified. Sherwani has also repeatedly been denied his legal right to temporary home leave.

Sherwani, a native of the Barzan region, was first arrested on trumped-up charges of espionage for the PKK. Despite the fact that the PKK and Turkish authorities are now engaged in peace negotiations. The actual motivation behind his arrest appears to have been his investigation into explosive corruption cases he claimed involved the Barzani family. His origins in the Barzan area gave him unique access to close associates and members of the family, making his journalistic work particularly sensitive to those in power.