ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Jailed opposition leader and former co-president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Lahur Jangi Talabany proposed turning himself in before the outbreak of armed clashes in August 2025, one of his lawyers told Rudaw on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after Talabany was sentenced for “criminal conspiracy,” as he awaits another trial for premeditated murder.
"I only learned of the arrest warrant against me late at night when a massive force besieged my house," Dana Taqiyadin recounted Lahur's words during a recent conversation in jail, speaking to Rudaw's Sangar Abdulrahman.
Lahur Talabany, his brother Polad, and dozens from his inner security circles were arrested last summer in heavy clashes after thousands of security forces besieged Lalezar Hotel, known to be Talabany’s stronghold as well as the headquarters of his opposition party, Baray Gal (People’s Front).
“I spoke with the head of Asayish [security forcers] and told him, ‘I will send Polad as a hostage, and then you can present the arrest warrant to me, and I will get into your car,’” the lawyer continued, telling the jailed opposition leader’s words.
Lahur was elected as the co-leader of the PUK in February 2020 alongside his cousin, Bafel Jalal Talabani, who ousted him from the PUK in July 2021. Lahur subsequently established Baray Gal, which gained two seats in the Kurdistan Region elections in 2024.
Taqiyadin said during the phone conversation with the Asayish official that “Mr. Bafel took the phone” and told Lahur, “'Come with me.' But Lahur answered, 'You hold no official capacity. I will surrender to the government, not to any political party.’”
The conversation, according to Taqiyadin, was the underlying reason for the outbreak of the armed clashes.
Weeks after the clashes in and near Lalezar Hotel, Asayish in Sulaimani aired confessions of a number of Lahur’s armed men. They underscored a plot orchestrated by Lahur to kill his cousin and current PUK leader Bafel Talabani.
A court in Sulaimani sentenced Lahur to five years and three months in prison. Polad, in addition to 10 other defendants, received varying lighter sentences while two others were acquitted.
The defendants were tried according to Article 56 of the Iraqi penal code, which addresses conspiracy for committing a misdemeanor or a crime. The court had set late October to try the defendants on premeditated murder or aggravated homicide, Taqiyadin told Rudaw at the time.
