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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The mother of assassinated activist Ihab al-Wazni held an open sit-in in front of Karbala's court on Sunday, demanding authorities reveal the identity of her son’s killer, local activists have confirmed to Rudaw English.
Dozens of activists supporting Samira al-Wazni gathered in front of the court, 40 days after the assassination of her son, demanding decisive steps to be taken by the government.
Activists said security forces prevented her from setting up a tent at the entrance to the court.
“You are all killers, I will not leave. I am not afraid of you, I will set the governor headquarters on fire if my son’s killers stay free,” video footage shows her saying.
She delivered a statement in front of the Karbala court, chastising tribal elders.
"Where are you?” she said, addressing them as “a grieving woman who plays a role greater than yours."
"This government is devoid of morality...otherwise, they wouldn't let an old and sick woman sit on the streets and bear the burden of the government's negligence in order to get the blood of her son and obtain her most basic rights with retribution from the criminals.”
Wazni was assassinated near his home in Karbala in May. Before his death, the activist called for large protests, prompting demonstrators to head en masse to Baghdad just weeks after he was killed, demanding the killers of activists be revealed.
In a press conference on June 7, Samira gave the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, 12 days to reveal the perpetrators and bring them to a public trial.
“After the deadline for the martyr's mother expires, at exactly twelve o'clock, it will be zero hour for us… may God and the people forgive us,” local activist Raed al-Da’ame told Rudaw English on Sunday.
A group of activists from Najaf read a statement on Sunday confirming their support for Ihab's mother, warning the government against further delaying the release of information on Wazni’s killers.
"We, as the revolutionaries of Najaf, join the mother of the martyr to demand immediate retribution. Our first steps will be a sit-in before the Najaf court tomorrow morning, and we pledge to the mother of the martyr that we obey her and are ready for the next steps."
Video footage filmed by sit-in participants showed Wazni’s mother trying to stop a convoy from the United Nations Mission Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI), which continued on its way. Videos shared to social media also showed demonstrators gathering in the city’s al-Ahrar square, only to be attacked by riot police.
Twitter hashtags were later launched in support of the bereaved mother.
She has accused Qassem Musleh, a leader from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-shaabi), of killing her son. Musleh was arrested on charges of terrorism and killing prominent activists in Karbala, but was released shortly after due to an alleged lack of evidence.
Since the start of the protest movement in October 2019, dozens of activists have been assassinated, and some have been kidnapped and tortured. The killers act with impunity as investigations have yielded little result.
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