At a Glance

• The Kirkuk Court of Appeal issued two rulings for Mohammed Amin.

• The court cleared Amin of charges involving an attacking soldier.

• The court upheld a conviction pushed by the Ministry of Defense.

The Kirkuk Court of Appeal issued a mixed ruling regarding Kurdish citizen Mohammed Amin, a representative for Sargaran farmers, by overturning a conviction related to a 2025 military altercation while upholding a second verdict brought by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.

Key Statements and Focus Area

Mohammed Amin, representative of the Sargaran farmers, stated that, “After I filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals, the final results for both lawsuits came back today."

Regarding the first complaint, the representative noted that the Court of Appeal overturned a Kirkuk court ruling that had convicted him over an altercation with a soldier who attempted to strangle him with his scarf.

Speaking to Channel8 about the court ruling, Mohammed Amin stated that two lawsuits had been filed against him following the incident: one by a soldier named Karrar Shakir, and a second by military forces on behalf of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.

He highlighted that while the initial Kirkuk court trial acquitted him of both charges, it ordered him to pay a fine of one million Iraqi dinars for each lawsuit.

The representative added that the Court of Appeal upheld the Kirkuk court's decision regarding the second complaint filed against him by the Ministry of Defense.

FYI

The legal battle involving Mohammed Amin stems from deep-rooted land disputes in Kirkuk, which trace back to the Baathist regime's Arabization policies that confiscated Kurdish farmlands. 

In the sub-district of Sargaran, thousands of acres remain bitterly contested between indigenous Kurdish farmers and Arab families who were given the land decades ago. 

The specific conflict erupted on February 17, 2025, when Iraqi military forces entered Shanagha village to stop Kurdish farmers from plowing their ancestral fields. During the confrontation, a soldier named Karrar Shakir was filmed violently attacking Amin by wrapping a scarf around his neck to pull him off his tractor.

Following the altercation, Kurdish authorities, including Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha and major political parties, strongly condemned the military's actions as illegal demographic manipulation. 

Despite the political outcry and efforts in Baghdad to restore property rights, localized military forces continue to block tractors and impound machinery during harvest seasons.

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