Peregraf
The fifth hearing for freedom of information lawsuits filed by Peregraf’s editor-in-chief against President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani was held in Erbil on Sunday (December 4).
Surkew Mohammed, Peregraf’s Editor-in-Chief filed the complaints in order to test procedures under the Kurdistan Region’s Right to Obtain Information Act (No. 11, 2013) and ensure transparency in public affairs.
In June 2022, Mohammed made a formal request through Sulaymaniyah’s notary office seeking information about how the offices of the president and the prime minister had spent public funds.
A similar request was sent to the office of Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament Rewaz Fayaq.
When the trio failed to respond to the requests, Mohammed resorted to court action.
At the request of their lawyers, the legal paperwork of Nechirvan Barzani and Masrour Barzani were transferred to Erbil from Sulaymaniyah. At Sunday’s hearing in Erbil, the judge ordered a postponement in both cases until December 15, due to a delay in a legal notice letter to Erbil from Sulaymaniyah, where the original case was filed.