Cultural Center of the Caucasus Yezidis with the support of the website yazidis.info continues to monitor the fate of four Yazidi students accused of murder.

On April 21, a Nineveh court handed down the death sentence to four Yazidi students for their alleged involvement in the murder of two Arab men. This decision caused a wave of protests and indignation on the part of the Yazidi population, who are sure that the four young men confessed to the crime under pressure and torture. The protesters believe that the crime was committed by ISIL militants to sow discord between the Yazidis and the Shammar tribe living in the area. The people are calling on the court to review the verdict.

The two men who were shot dead in the area between Al-Qahtaniya and Sinjar belong to the Shammar tribe, which is one of the largest tribes in Nineveh. The place where the two young men were killed is not far from several checkpoints and military bases, and the question immediately arises, "so how were they killed so easily and unnoticed?"

The father of one of the young men said:

"My son is not involved in the murder. On the evening when he was detained, he went to the store for the products we needed. I waited for him to return until late in the evening, but he did not show up, his mobile phone was turned off. I knew that he could not go anywhere, as he came out in home-made, sweatpants. When it was already dark, I went to look for him and found out that the security services had arrested him."

According to the father of the accused, the authorities have not allowed him to see his son since the day of his arrest.

The Deputy Emir of the Yazidis visited the Nineveh Criminal Court twice in the case before the verdict, highlighting the potential for discord and problems between the Yazidis and the Shammar tribe.

On Sunday, April 25, several political and military figures and Yazidi clerics gathered at the Sharfadin shrine in Sinjar and sent a note of protest to the Iraqi Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court in Nineveh regarding the sentencing of four young Yazidis.

One of the military leaders and a member of the Yazidi Council in Sinjar, Hader Shasho, said after the meeting:

"What happened is considered an infringement of the rights of the Yazidis. We support compliance with the law, but we want justice in court decisions. We ask for a review of the decision and the abolition of lawlessness. The court has no witnesses, no evidence of the crime. If the sentences are implemented in the form in which they are now, there will be big problems. We ask you to reconsider the decision and cancel the death sentence. "

Muhammad Aziz, head of the administrative division of the Criminal Court of Nineveh, made this statement:

"The four accused confessed to the crime before the judge. The decision of the Criminal Court of Nineveh is impeccable. The perpetrators said in their confessions that they ambushed two Arab citizens and killed them. When the judge asked them why they had done this, they replied that they wanted to take revenge on the Arabs. Especially those who are involved in the abduction and murder of our Yazidi women and girls. The crime was planned. The judge handed down the death sentences based on these confessions."

It should be noted that the lawyers of the Yazidi students repeatedly mentioned the fact that at the court session the young people rejected the charges against them, and all four guys signed confessions under pressure, violence, and intimidation.

As you know, some parties are hostile to the Yazidis, respectively, they also put pressure on the court to impose death sentences on the Yazidis.

The lawyers intend to appeal the court's decision as soon as possible.

After the death sentences were handed down, protests and rallies began in Sinjar and other Yazidi-populated areas.

Ammar Aziz