On 16 May 2020, armed members of the Asayish and local police entered the home of teacher and activist Badal Abdulbaqi Aba Bakr in Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and arrested him without a warrant. He is being charged with “the misuse of electronic devices” for his role in organizing peaceful protests through social media platforms and remains detained. His family are unable to visit him due to COVID-19 measures and they have not been able to contact him directly. Badal has only seen his lawyer.
