The death sentence of a young Yazidi in Iraq is currently causing great outrage among Yazidis. Khaled Shamo, 20, is accused of being responsible for the murder of a Kurdish Sunni man in Shingal on August 3, 2017. The incident led to an escalation between the Yazidis and the Sunni tribe to which the victim belonged. The Sunni tribe even threatened war.

The verdict was wrong and against an innocent person, says the Shamo family, who barely survived the genocide of the Islamic state terrorist group. The family has strong evidence to support their charges, but the court ignores them. However, the size of the case is more far-reaching than initially recognized, and can lead to escalation. Meanwhile, Yazidi commanders, including Heydar Shesho and Hal Ali, spoke out. What happened?

On August 3, 2017, two people in the far North of the Shingal district were attacked directly on the Iraqi side of the Syrian-Iraqi border zone with automatic weapons. District near the town of Khanasor uninhabited and famous for its smuggling routes. One of the men dies at the scene, the other survives with serious injuries including complete blindness.

In the indictment of the Ninawa provincial court, which the Shamo family reported, Khaled Shamo is accused of having committed a crime . Among other things, he is said to have driven the criminals ' vehicle. In addition, the indictment literally States that "Khaled Shamo Kirani of Bar" is "a member of the PKK" and "is responsible for the murder".

The survivor of the attack appears as a witness at the trial and, despite being completely blind, claims that Khaled Shamo was also the culprit. The court asked no more questions.

Khaled Shamo did not have a driver's license and did not know how to drive a car, the family's father explains. On the day of the crime, his son was also in a refugee camp and attended a memorial service on the anniversary of the genocide. Yazidi activists supported this claim by providing photos and videos from the event, which Khaled Shamo is said to be showing.

The name of the accused, which is used in the indictment, is also special. The accused is referred to as "Khaled Shamo Kiran". The addition of "Kirani" is not part of Khaled Shamo's official name and is not part of his identity documents, in which he is referred to as Khaled Shamo Serhan Abdo, and he has not personally used the addition of "kirana" in public. He only used this in his Facebook profile. The Shamo family suspects that Iraqi investigative authorities simply copied the name Khaled Shamo mentioned in a Facebook search field and identified the next Yazid as the culprit. The name Khaled Shamo occurs several times. The family explains why their son was arrested more than two months later. Apparently, the investigating authorities were interested in closing the case quickly.

A sign of Khaled Shamo's innocence is the police themselves, who testified and also confirmed that Khaled Shamo was in a refugee camp at the time of the crime. The court, on the other hand, ignores applications and rejects counter-evidence for no apparent reason.

However, Yazidis suspect a judicial scandal behind this decision. The judge who sentenced Khaled Shamo, is a Muslim Kurd and a member of the tribe of Numbers of Sinhala. From this tribe, many in turn joined the terrorist group and were responsible for the murder of numerous Yazidis.

On February 4, 2020, the court ruled and sentenced 20-year-old Khaled Shamo to death under anti-terrorism laws by hanging. The death sentence is due to be carried out on March 10, 2020.

In desperation, the Shamo family appeals to the public and especially asks for help from the Yazidi community. She is so outraged by the process that even high-ranking Yazidi individuals speak out. Yazidi MP Saad Babir announced that he would launch a legal case against the verdict.

The incident could further inflame already tense relations between Yazidis and Islamic tribes in the Shingal region and lead to an escalation. The Shamo family, however, hopes that the verdict can be appealed and their son's life will be saved.

ezidipress.com