German artist kidnapped in Baghdad freed by security forces

The German art curator Hella Mewis, who was kidnapped earlier this week, has been freed by Iraq’s security forces, Iraqi and German authorities have announced.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The German art curator Hella Mewis, who was kidnapped earlier this week, has been freed by Iraq’s security forces, Iraqi and German authorities have announced.

“Security forces have freed German activist Hella Mewis,” Yehia Rasool, Iraq’s military spokesperson said in a statement issued on Friday. But he provided no further details, including the forces that conducted the operation; the timing of the operation; or the identities of those who had abducted her.

Mewis was kidnapped earlier this week, while riding her bicycle outside of her art collection office in Baghdad.

A similar announcement came from Germany, where Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced that Iraqi authorities have turned Mewis over to the German embassy in Baghdad, after she had been freed by Iraqi security forces.

An official source from Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council told AFP that the operation was carried out on the basis of authorization from a Baghdad investigative court.

Mewis was abducted by unknown assailants in two vehicles, as police officers in the area witnessed the scene without intervening, sources told AFP following the incident.

Mewis runs an art collection known as Bet al-Tarkib (House of Installation), which was established in 2015. Al-Tarkib organizes exhibitions for Iraqi artists and helps them to develop their portfolios.

The abduction came following the assassination of a well-known Iraqi security analyst, Hisham al-Hashimi, in early July outside his home in eastern Baghdad, where he was ambushed and shot several times by four men on two motorcycles.

Read More: Iraqi terrorism expert, Hisham al-Hashimi, assassinated in Baghdad

Informed sources who spoke to AFP said Mewis was “nervous” following Hashimi’s assassination, as she was “really involved” in the protests that erupted last October against the lack of services in the country and government corruption.

Soon after Mewis’ abduction, the hashtag “#ReleaseMewis” began trending on Twitter, along with her picture, posted with pleas for her release.

The kidnapping of foreign nationals in Iraq has occurred before. In mid-December, two French freelance journalists were taken hostage for 36 hours, although the perpetrators remain unknown, according to AFP.

Editing by Laurie Mylroie