Court issues arrest warrant against New Generation’s Shaswar Abdulwahid

A court in the Kurdistan Region’s province of Sulaimani issued an arrest warrant this week agains the leader of Naway Nwe (New Generation) movement Shaswar Abdulwahid accused of misusing communication device to threaten others.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A court in the Kurdistan Region’s province of Sulaimani issued an arrest warrant this week agains the leader of Naway Nwe (New Generation) movement Shaswar Abdulwahid accused of misusing communication device to threaten others.

The arrest warrant was originally issued on Tuesday, but was released to the media late Wednesday.

The court mentioned that his arrest warrant came after a complaint was formally lodged against him with the General-Directorate of Asayish (Security).

The order for his arrest was based on “Article 2” of a law which forbids the misuse of communication devices, according to the court.

The court order follows New Generation lawmaker Shadi Nawzad’s public condemnation on April 24, who, in a press conference in front of the Kurdistan Parliament, claimed Abdulwahid, using a fake WhatsApp number, threatened to release an alleged sex tape filmed without her consent in a house located in the German Village Complex, a residential complex owned by Abdulwahid.

She claimed the footage had been edited as part of a plan to use it against her to ensure she would be “obedient as a party member and within parliament.”

Last Friday, security officials in Sulaimani released alleged confessions of detained New Generation members accusing Abdulwahid of being involved in threatening a fellow lawmaker with the release of “indecent videos.”

This turmoil for the party comes weeks after several leadership council members, in a joint statement, criticized Abdulwahid for bringing his family members into the party structure and “turning it to a business while ignoring the opinions of other leadership members.”

The New Generation Movement, founded in 2018, holds four seats in Iraq’s 329-seat parliament and eight in the Kurdistan regional parliament.

Editing by Nadia Riva