Court deems Kurdish Vice President 'insulted' Iraqi forces, issues arrest warrant

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi Judicial Court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Vice President Kosrat Rasool for his remarks about Iraqi and Shiite armed forces which assailed the Kurdish-held province of Kirkuk earlier this week.

“The Court issued an arrest warrant for [Rasool] on the grounds of his recent comments which described the federal police forces in Kirkuk as occupying forces,” a statement by Judge Abdulstar Bayraqdar, a spokesperson for the Supreme Judicial Council, read.

In an open declaration on Wednesday, Rasool described the events in Kirkuk and other areas where Iraqi forces and the Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia took control of as “a new Anfal operation against the Kurds.”

The court charged the Kurdish official with contravening article 226 of the Iraqi penal code—publicly insulting a public institution—and accused him of inciting violence against Iraqi forces.

The Vice President highlighted the human rights abuses committed by Iraqi security forces, including the burning and looting of homes and shops belonging to Kurds in the province.

On Monday, both Iraqi forces and the Shia militia led an incursion into the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk, which had been under the protection of Peshmerga since mid-2014 after the Iraqi army collapsed and failed to defend the area from the Islamic State (IS).

Since then, tens of thousands of Kurdish families have been fleeing the area in fear of reprisals from the Iraqi security forces. 

Tensions have increased between Erbil and Baghdad following the Kurdistan Region’s Sep. 25 independence referendum, which saw nearly 93 percent voting for secession from Iraq.

In the aftermath of the vote, the Iraqi government has imposed a set of punitive measures and sanctions on the Kurdistan Region for holding the plebiscite, as well as military threats.

The same court also issued arrest warrants for members of the Independent High Electoral and Referendum Commission (IHERC) for acting against the ruling of the Iraq's highest court by holding and overseeing the Sep. 25 vote in the Kurdistan Region.

Editing by G.H. Renaud