ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Ali Hama Saleh, leader of the National Stance Movement (Halwest), several lawmakers from rival opposition blocs, and journalists from multiple news outlets were arrested Thursday by security forces in Sulaimani, ahead of a planned protest over unpaid public sector salaries.
An informed source told Rudaw that Halwest leader Saleh and two other senior party officials were detained Thursday morning, before later announcing on Facebook that they were released.
In a Facebook statement the previous day, Halwest accused plainclothes security forces affiliated with the ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of surrounding its main office in civilian clothes and arresting “friends of Halwest” shortly after the group visited Lahur Talabany, head of the opposition Baray Gal party. Talabany was previously co-leader of the PUK before being ousted by his cousin Bafel Talabani.
On early Thursday morning, Halwest announced that “all the leaders of the Halwest Movement… will be at the front of the protestors [ranks].”
Journalists from several opposition media outlets were also detained while preparing to cover the protests. Speda TV said four of its employees were arrested. The opposition Zoom News said five of its staff were detained at the protest site. Earlier on Tuesday, Nalia Radio and Television (NRT) also reported that their crew and equipment were targeted by security forces.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement on X that it is “closely monitoring the concerning situation in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Sulaymaniyah [Sulaimani],” and urged Kurdish authorities “to release all detained journalists and to ensure the press can operate freely.”
“This is [setting] a new precedent in Sulaimani,” Rahman Gharib, director of the Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy, told Rudaw on Thursday. He described the arrests as a sweeping crackdown not seen before.
“There is illegal mass arrest,” he said, adding that journalists were blocked from accessing protest locations and that individuals had been arrested for merely expressing intent to protest.
Gharib said that he has asked Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, a senior PUK figure and brother to its leader Bafel Talabani, to intervene and allow protests to proceed.
Among those arrested earlier in the week were Dilshad Mirani and Osman Gulpi, two organizers of the protest. Alliance 19, a civil society watchdog affiliated with Metro, said both were separately summoned by Sulaimani’s local security (Asayish) on Tuesday night and have been unreachable since. The watchdog said Adil Hassan, a member of a local teachers' committee, told them that the families of the two men were informed Wednesday that they would be released the following day.
Omar Gulpi, Osman’s brother and a member of the Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal), who won a seat in the Region’s parliamentary elections held in October, told Rudaw on Thursday that 11 people had been held in detention for two nights. Omar previously filed a lawsuit with Iraq’s top court against the Kurdistan parliament, calling for the annulment of the regional election results over its failure to convene.
Hours after being arrested, Omar was also released.
Alliance 19 also said a group of teachers were arrested at a press conference on Tuesday,
Sulaimani’s security committee issued a statement Monday backing the “legitimate rights and demands of teachers, employees, and salary earners,” but said protests were “not appropriate” given the region’s current circumstances - referring to the sharp escalation of regional tensions following missile exchanges between Iran and Israel. That conflict drew in the United States, which carried out airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites before brokering a ceasefire Tuesday.
Despite warnings, protest organizers have pressed ahead. On Tuesday, Mirani told Rudaw, “We will hold a press conference, after which we will ask for support from all segments of society” ahead of Thursday’s planned demonstration.
The arrests were met with sharp criticism from other opposition figures. On Thursday, Soran Omar, a Komal lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, said on Facebook that “arresting teachers, civil servants, journalists, and lawmakers to prevent them from demanding salary earners' rights is the primary disgraceful practice of this plundering authority.”
“The tragedy is that these arbitrary arrests are being carried out by people [security forces] who themselves haven't been paid for two months,” he added.
Gharib, of the Metro Center, noted that while journalists and opposition media have faced pressure and silencing in the past, the current wave of arrests is broader and more alarming. “I believe that for the Asayish to interpret this as a threat is an exaggeration,” he said.
“Suppose these [protesting] teachers and civil servants ask for their rights in Baghdad, they will be called jash [traitors]. If they protest in front of official institutions in the Kurdistan Region, they will be labeled anarchists,” Gharib said.
While Gharib condemned the arrest of Saleh, he added that he disapproves of opposition parties riding on the public’s demands, saying they should lead independent protests of their own.
Sulaimani’s branch of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate announced on Thursday morning that the journalists who had been arrested during the day will be released shortly.
“A number of media workers were detained early Thursday morning, and before noon,” the syndicate said. “Following our inquiries and demands for their release, it was decided that after lunch is prepared for them, they will all be released and return to their work.”
Sulaimani-based Asayish said in a statement on Thursday that they had been “intensively aware of a plan by some troublemakers who intended to exploit the demonstrations of beloved teachers and employees in Sulaimani to disrupt peace and stability.” It added that the alleged plan sought to “sow discord among demonstrators and rightful protestors in order to achieve political goals.”
Asayish claimed that “To thwart this plot, we were unfortunately compelled over the past two days to arrest some of the demonstration organizers, despite their lack of awareness of the scheme… Our intention in detaining them was solely to protect their lives, as well as those of other protestors and dissatisfied citizens, and to prevent any harm.”
Asayish also said its members treated the detainees “with respect” and issued an apology, stating, “We assure them that our actions were taken only to ensure their safety and maintain the peace of the city.”
Soran Hussein and Sangar Abdulrahman contributed to this report.
Updated at 5:18 pm.
