Perpetrators of Kurdish preacher's murder receive death sentence

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Erbil's court issued a death sentence to the two men behind the killing of a well-known Kurdish preacher.

On Thursday, the Erbil Criminal Court convened the first session on the murder of Wushyar Ismael, a moderate Kurdish preacher, and imposed the death penalty on the two responsible for the killing.

On November 22, 2016, an armed man shot and killed Kurdish preacher Dr. Wushyar Ismael at his home in Erbil at around midnight. He died while being rushed to the emergency hospital.

Ismael, who was a member of the Kurdistan Islamic Union party, was a moderate preacher at the Omar Bindiyan Mosque located in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.

He was also a presenter on religious TV programs on his party’s satellite channel.

Following his death, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Gorran Movement (Change), Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), and Kurdistan Islamic Group strongly condemned the incident.

In a phone call with the KIU leader, the President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani extended his condolences to the family of the victim and called on police and security forces to find the perpertrators as soon as possible and bring them to court.

The President labeled the incident as an attack on everyone, not only the KIU.

Editing by G.H. Renaud