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May 9, 2010
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Who is responsible for the killing of the Kurdish journalist Sardasht Osman?
Kurdishaspect.com
Sardasht Osman a Kurdish journalist and student in his
final year of English at Salaheddin University in Arbil was
kidnapped in broad day light. According to eyewitnesses,
Osman was abducted by men in a white minibus
immediately after he was dropped off at the University.
There were a dozen soldiers from the well-trained
Zerevani unit of the Kurdish pesh merga armed forces
guarding the gate of the University. The guards that are
supposedly there to protect the safety of the students,
watched the kidnapping happen without lifting a finger .
Sardasht Osman, 23, was a reporter for Ashtiname and a
regular contributor to independent news Web sites Sbei,
Awene, Hawlati, and Lvinpress
“I am in love with Barzani’s daughter,” read a satirical and
irreverent Web post by Mr. Osman in December, which
appeared to violate a taboo in the region’s deeply conservative and clan-based culture by referring to a female family member of the region’s president, Massoud Barzani. Mr. Osman mused about how he could rise from his poor surroundings by marrying one of Mr. Barzani’s daughters. Wrote Sam Dahgher for The New York Times.
Osman’s brother, Bashdar, told CPJ that he was convinced that Sardasht was killed because of a critical article his brother wrote in the independent daily Ashtinam in April about a high-ranking Kurdistan Regional Government official. “In the last few months, my brother received a number of phone threats, demanding that he stop meddling in government affairs,” .
Kurdistan security forces are often accused of intimidating, threatening and assaulting journalists affiliated with opposition parties or critical of the corrupt patronage system fostered by the two governing parties.
Who do you think is responsible for this outrageous crime? What can be done so it does not happen again? Have your say.
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I accuse Masud Barzany and his wicked son Masrour for the killing , not other words
salih yusif - kurdistan, erbil
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It is unquestionable thing. We know that no one can kidnap people in a day especially when police is there. ALSO, we know Kurdistan is safe now, how can terrorists be able to kidnap and take Sardasht to MUSIL if the highest position in KRG did not know about it.
sonya - Iraq
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Dear Jalal!
Look Jalal, these arguments are not as black and white as you make them out to be. I understand that many government officials and the Asaish work outside the Kurdish constitution with impunity, but so do the journalists.
Have you seen the outside of the college he went to in the morning? It is absolute chaos. Taxi's picking up and dropping off students, buses flying through also dropping people off. I don't see it very difficult that a bus came through, grabbed him, and drove off. Also have you seen alert peshmerga lately? Especially outside obsolete locations like colleges? Usually they are sitting there checking out the girls or texting on their cell phones. Also from that college to Mosul there is only one checkpoint, and the checkpoint never checks cars leaving the Kurdistan region, only the ones entering. And they were in a mini-bus, so there was no trunk, thus you theorize that the kidnappers had a gun to his back and if he said anything, bye bye. I've also seen articles written by Sardasht criticizing the Koran, this could have been radical Islamists who kidnapped and murdered him, it would seem more plausible.
I am not justifying these things, but this is what is wrong in the Kurdistan region, nobody does anything properly. Nobody does proper research, nobody thinks things through situations before yapping their mouths off. Nobody has been properly educated, nobody is qualified for the positions they are in and this is the systemic problem within our region. We have a long road ahead of us, but compared to what has happened in our past and the situations on the ground in the countries surrounding Iraqi Kurdistan, we are doing quite well.
Also the last elections were widely accepted by international observers in the Kurdistan region. If the corruption, and the nepotism keeps going then we can simply vote for another party. This is the democratic process. But always remember, it has only been 7 years since we have been rid of the dictator Saddam Hussein (and this statement can obviously be countered but that is for another time) and we in no way have the proper institutions or the geopolitical will to be a completely free and democratic society.
Adam - Actually in Erbil now
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Dear Adam
What research is needed? Sardasht wrote : “If I become Masud Barzani’s son-in-law, we would spend our honeymoon in Paris and also we would visit our uncle’s mansion in America. I would move my house from one of the poorest areas in Erbil to Sari Rash [Barzani’s palace complex] where it would be protected by American guard dogs and Israeli bodyguards.
I would make my father become the Minister of Peshmerga [the Kurdish militia]. He had been Peshmarga in September revolution, but he now has no pension because he is no longer a member of Kurdistan Democratic Party.
I would make my unlucky baby brother, who recently finished university but is now unemployed and looking to leave Kurdistan, chief of my special forces.
My sister who has been too embarrassed to go to the bazaar to shop, could drive all the expensive cars just as Barzani’s daughters do.
For my mother, who is diabetic and has high blood pressure and heart problems but who is not able to afford treatment outside Kurdistan, I would hire a couple Italian doctors to treat her in the comfort of her own house.
For my uncles, I would open few offices and departments and they, along with all my nieces and nephews would become high generals, officers, and commanders”.
What Sardasht wrote is the truth. Barzani’s clan is the most nepotistic family on this earth. Unless you choose to be blind, these are facts that stair you in face every day no research is needed. And don’t shift the blame on to others; everyone in Kurdistan knows no one can kidnap a person in bright daylight with dozen soldiers from the well-trained KDP’s Zerevani unit of the Kurdish pesh merga armed forces watching and then pass through dozens KDP check points with a body in a trunk unless they were instructed to ignore by higher-up. Please!!!
Jalal - Virginia
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I think the underlying factor in this 'journalists' murder is that Kurdistan needs to implement real and enforced media laws. These journalists do not do any real research at all and the newspapers are full of libel and slander in Kurdistan with no repercussions when they make things up about the government. Another problem here is that there are very loyal members of the KDP and the PUK and these people will obviously go to extreme measures to stop these 'journalists' from writing critical articles about the government. It was also known that this journalist wrote for the Kurdsitanpost, which is basically a tabloid in Kurdistan but is taken as real news by most of the Kurdish population due to nothing like this existing in the past that is as widely distributed as it is. By no means am I justifying murder of journalists but we need to address the problems behind this murder and not simply point fingers all over the place. Masoud Barzani, Masrour Barz
ani and Karim Sinjari immediately condemned this attack and freed all the resources possible to find the murderers in this attack. It was a disgusting act and everything I have mentioned in this post should be part of the discourse in Kurdistan.
Adam - Canada
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There is no doubt that Parastin (PDK-secret service which is fully controlled by Barzani and his son) are responsible and they are alone capable of doing suth thing.
The ONLy solution is for a full and violent protest to overthrow this savage clan-based dictatorship. People can do it and they have the chance to do it. It is feasible since the americas are still in kurdistan otherwise our chance would be lost for now. The Americans can guard the borders with arabs as they are doing now and we kurds should ovetrhrow this regime now ,otherwise if American leave it would be not wise to do so since it would damage kurdish interest even further by giving arabs the hand to get involved and get the upper hand in Iraq.
NOW is our chance since the Americans still in kurdistan to overthrow the governmnet and smach this clan based dictatorship. another 1991 is surely neede to free ourselves from the shakels of dictatorship,it is much easier and far more feasible than 1991 and so let us do it.
Serdar - UK
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Another victm of freedom, its realy shame on kurdish authurity and KDP for what they done to the kurdish jornalist.
Tornado - Kurdistan
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I am so sad for this boy's death. Kurds have always been suffering from other causes,
Sadam was before, but now I think it is imposing dictatorship regime Barzani. Kurds have right to silence, the peace they are people, we are people, only God can take our lives, not regime Barzani.I love a Kurdish man from Iraq, is my best friend, but are worried for his life . Barzani think u are not allah for kill someone. KURDISH was, a CHILD was.....just u are TIRAN. you pay in front of allah in one day......
Mia - Romania
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Since this kind of crimes is not peculiar to KDP and its monarch and because they have silenced many others before, I have no doubt that they are solely responsible for that.
Nothing can prevent this from happening again as long as Masud Barzani and his clanship remain in power for he respects nothing but power and only by it will oust.
Nariman - Canada
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I think the most respossible person who killed this young journalist is Barzani Family.we hope oneday we can trail those killer and let them to face the same fate like Saddams ended.
Recan Sardasht - Canada
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If KRG is truly independent and not controlled by Massud and his conservative party KDP, it should pursue the killers of Sardasht, but if not Dr.Barham should resign! Sardasht is not the first one and will not be the last as long as KDP is controlling the political and social spaces of Kurdistan!
Daro - USA
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I Strongly condmn the killing and abbduction of journalist Sardahst Osman. without a doubt the process had been pland a head of time and is not related to personal issue, it is more political matter. Hope his friend and other journalist will continue his path and and let the candel lit forever.
Sara - U.S.A
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I am saddened by this tragic event and my thoughts are with his family and friends.
While I want to make that clear there is absolutely no justification to torture and silence Journalists but I would also like to see liberal Kurdish intellectuals to reconcile with the conservative section of the Kurdish society. I believe that intentionally provoking the authorities is in no ones interest. RIP Sardasht.
Hawraman - U.K.
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Zardasht Osman, was a vocal activist for Kurdish democracy and was never afraid of criticising Massoud Barzani in his articles. His most infamous article is published on KurdistanPost.com in which he criticised Massoud Barzani and his family for running a monopoly on business and politics in Kurdistan. He sarcastically suggested that he wished that he was married to Massoud Barzani’s daughter so that he can be corrupt and benefit from the position. (link to article = http://www.kurdistanpost.com/view.asp?id=27831dbb )
Zardasht continuously reported that he was being threatened that he will be killed. After writing “I am in love with Massoud Barzani’s daughter”, his subsequent article suggests that he has received a number of threatening emails asking him to give his real name and to reveal his face in a photograph. He posted a photograph of himself in the article and declared that he is not afraid of death. (link to article = http://www.kurdistanpost.com/view.asp?id=b01d8bf7 )
A number of articles later, and in January 2010, he stated that he had received a number of threatening phone calls asking him to leave Erbil (Hawler). He stated that approached the Dean of his university as well as the local police station. He said that his university Dean had informed him that the situation can be dealt with by the police and the police had told him that they can not do anything about it. (link to article = http://www.kurdistanpost.com/view.asp?id=8beeef2a )
On Zardasht’s facebook page, his last activity was a message written on the page of Masrour Barzani, the son of the Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani.
The Facebook activity log states on Zardasht’s page “Saro wrote on Masrour Barzani's Wall.” After reading the entire messages on Masrour Barzani’s page, it can be seen that there are no messages left by the name of Saro Zardasht, indicating that the people who run Masrour Barzani’s page, whom are thought to be Masrour and his office, have deleted the message. (link to Facebook = http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000973662411
No one in Kurdistan can abduct another human being right under the noses of Barzani’s army and militia. The fact that Zardasht’s body was dumped in the volatile city of Mosul, adds more fuel to the fire. How anyone did manage to escape the numerous checkpoints of Massoud Barzani’s army and was able to have a hostage or possibly a body in the boot?
Questions that only the high ranking of the Kurdistan intelligence services can answer.
Rostam Rasul - Kurdistan
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I am shocked and saddened by this appalling crime. It is unfortunate that our people never learn from the past. History shows time and time again our leaders have betrayed us and sold us out and yet we continue to support their never ending corrupt demagoguery.
It is very obvious who the responsible party is and we can be assured that no one will pay for this horrendous act because the people that committed this crime are the same ones that created the bogus laws to protect us. It will happen again.
My heart goes out to Sardashet’s family and may he rest in peace.
Omar - USA
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