The Committee to Protect Journalists has investigated the case of Sherwan Sherwani, a prominent activist, and spoken to the lawyers and relatives of Sherwan Sherwani and Gohdar Zebari, who are part of the case and the group has published a report on their case

The committee said that the Erbil Criminal Court had not not listen to Zebari's statements when he had said he gave permission to Sherwan Sherwani to sign a petition on his behalf. Faking a signature was one of the main charges against Sherwani.

The CPJ has sent a message to the Ministry of Justice, but has not received any response, the group said in the report.

On Thursday, the Erbil Criminal Court on a complaint filed by the Kurdistan Regional Adult Corrections Directorate on charges of forgery of documents sentenced Sherwan Sherwani to another four years in prison.