ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish journalist returned to northeast Syria (Rojava) on Monday after being jailed by the Kurdistan Region authorities for around 15 months, his lawyer said. Sulaiman Ahmed worked as a journalist for Rojnews, affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He was arrested in October 2023 by Duhok security forces and sentenced to three years in prison for what they said was his involvement in “secret and illegal activities for the PKK.” Earlier this month, the Kurdistan Region’s Cassation Court dropped all charges against him and ordered his “immediate release.” Bashdar Hassan, head of Ahmed’s legal team, told Rudaw on Monday that the journalist was released from jail earlier in the day. “He voluntarily returned to Rojava and had requested to see his mother first after his release. Therefore, we took him to the border,” added the lawyer. Ahmed, who was the Arabic section editor for Rojnews, was arrested on October 25, 2023, while entering the Kurdistan Region from Syria, where he had been visiting family. At the time of his arrest, Rojnews said that he was detained for his alleged membership in northeast Syria’s (Rojava) ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD).
