The assassination of Sardasht Osman not only introduced a journalist to the world, but also a family that did not surrender and continued their civil and peaceful struggle for justice, did not compromise and demanded justice instead of revenge.
Sardasht has left behind not only a memory, but also a way of life to rebel against injustice, to refuse to surrender and be honest in confrontation even if it costs his life. It is not a bullet that can kill the thinking of such people. Their memory is alive and remembered every day. the grave wasn't the end of his story. Rather, it was the beginning of a new story. The question that resurfaces with every visit to his grave is, "Why was he assassinated?”, we ask this question because it is a wound, and a wound that will not be forgotten and will not heal.
16 years have passed since the assassination of journalist Sardasht Osman. Our presence and organization of ceremonies every time to commemorate Sardasht, is conveying our message of insistence on revealing the killers of this young journalist.
We work in an environment where there is no rule of law, the "law of power” has replaced the "power of law”, in such an environment every step a journalist makes is a threat to their lives. Freedom is subject to the temperament of the armed forces. They want to control what is left of the media and turn it into a weapon in the hands of the authorities.
The impunity of the perpetrators of crimes and the deprivation of the victims and their families of justice is against all principles of international law and human rights. This is how we view the case of journalist Sardasht Osman.
In the Kurdistan Region, all measures of violence against press freedom have been used to suppress free and different voices, like, illegally closing the offices of media channels, restricting the space for civil work, and the courts not treating the cases of journalists and activists with a professional and independent eye. Some of their decisions have not been in the interest of justice and enhancing the reputation of the Kurdistan Regional Government's judiciary.
The most obvious example of this scene is the trial of Sherwan Sherwani and his friends. We don't know who to turn to? To whom should we take our requests? However, together with our other friends, we demand the release of the hunger striking and convicted Sherwan and Qareman Shukri.
The criminal mafia tried to silence us through assassinating (Sorani Mama hama, Sardasht Osman, teacher Abdulstar, Kawa Garmiani, Wadat Hussein), and through threats, beatings, and imprisonment... Through campaigns to defame writers and journalists. But they failed.