Dakok Mobilizes for Freedom: UK Protests Against the KDP’s Trial of Journalist Sulaiman Ahmad
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is set to put journalist Sulaiman Ahmad on trial on June 30, 2024, after keeping him imprisoned for nearly 250 days. His case mirrors the unjust persecution of other independent journalists in Kurdistan, highlighting the ruling party’s relentless assault on press freedom.
Dakok Organization, a leading advocate for Kurdish human rights and freedom of expression in the UK, has launched a campaign of resistance against this politically motivated trial. On June 28, 2024, protests will take place in Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, and Glasgow, calling on Kurds across Britain to stand in solidarity with Sulaiman Ahmad and all imprisoned journalists.
A Silenced Journalist, A Suppressed Truth
Sulaiman Ahmad, a journalist for the Arabic section of Rojnews Agency, was abducted by KDP security forces on October 25, 2023, while returning from his father’s funeral in Afrin. For 211 days, he was denied legal representation, only meeting a lawyer for the first time on May 25, 2024. His trial is set under the same oppressive legal framework used to imprison journalists Sherwan Sherwani and Qareman Shukri, reinforcing the KDP’s pattern of criminalizing independent reporting.
Rojnews Agency has categorically rejected this trial, demanding Sulaiman’s immediate release and an end to the KDP’s crackdown on journalism.
Dakok: A Voice for the Silenced
Dakok has a proven track record of defending press freedom, previously mobilizing against the mass arrest of Badinan journalists under the 2003 law. Now, the organization is taking the fight to the streets of Britain, ensuring the voices of oppressed Kurdish journalists are heard loud and clear.
As the KDP continues its assault on free speech, Dakok stands firm: Kurdish journalists will not be silenced, and the world is watching.
The June 28 protests are a call to action for all Kurds and supporters of press freedom. The imprisonment of one journalist is an attack on truth itself and truth will not be silenced.
Editor: Diyar Harki
