“People have no money to drink milk, no electricity, no water. People have become annoyed, it’s enough!” Azad said in the video that has gone viral since it was posted on August 3.
ERBIL-Hewler, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— A local man arrested by Erbil police after he criticized Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in a video posted to social media was released on bail Sunday, four days after being taken into custody.
Shivan Azad recorded and posted a cell phone video in which he blamed authorities for water and electricity shortages as well as delayed salaries for government employees.
“People have no money to drink milk, no electricity, no water. People have become annoyed, it’s enough!” Azad said in the video that has gone viral since it was posted on August 3. Report Ekurd
At the time of publishing, the video had over 10,000 views on Facebook.
“I talk on behalf of all people of Kurdistan. I am not afraid of being killed, arrested or executed,” he said.
NRT correspondent in Erbil, Omed Chomani said Azad was released on a three million dinar ($2,617) bail.
Azad spoke to NRT immediately after his release Sunday and said he does not regret posting the video, but that he also was not intending to incite violence or protests.
“I am free to say and express whatever,” he said. “I don’t mean to encourage people to go out on the streets and violate or annoy people. I am from Kurdistan and I want Kurdistan to be free and progressive.”
Erbil’s police directorate issued a statement Saturday saying it rejected allegations that Azad had been abducted and tortured by officers.
Azad said he had not been harmed while in custody.
Soran Omer, head of the Human Rights Committee in the Kurdistan Parliament, said Azad was arrested for expressing his anger towards Kurdish authorities, not for defamation, as police officials stated.
“He was accused of defamation,” Omer said. “Forming a committee to investigate his statements is against the law because he wasn’t at work when he did it.” Azad is a government employee working for the Erbil Civil Defense Directorate.
Omer also said he called on the KRG’s Interior Minister to review Azad’s case.
A number of civil society organizations gathered together in Erbil’s Minaret Park on Saturday to express concern over Azad’s arrest and call on the KRG to release him.
One of the demonstration’s organizers said the group had gathered to push for freedom of speech, which they feel is under threat in the Kurdistan Region.
And while Kurdistan region in the north often promotes itself as safer and more respectful of human rights than the rest of Iraq, it has been sharply criticised by rights groups for infringing on free speech.
