ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The trial of detained New Generation Movement (NGM) leader Shaswar Abdulwahid has been adjourned again to August 28, the New Region’s correspondent reported on Thursday.

It is the second time the Sulaimani Appellate Court has adjourned Abdulawahid’s hearing since his arrest earlier this month. He was set to appear before the court last week, but the hearing was adjourned to August 21.

The New Region's reporter on the ground said that the NGM leader is set to remain in detention until further notice.

Abdulwahid was arrested by security forces at his residence in Sulaimani on August 12. His party initially accused Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)-affiliated forces of the arrest, but Sulaimani’s Police later confirmed that the NGM leader was arrested by their forces.

A judicial decree dated August 3, seen by The New Region, states that Abdulwahid was to be arrested under Article 431 of the Iraqi Penal Code and faces a sentence of six months in prison.

Article 431 of the Iraqi Penal Code states: “Whoever threatens another with committing a felony against himself or his property, or against the person or property of another, or with attributing or disclosing dishonorable matters in cases other than those specified in Article 430, shall be punished by detention.”

The opposition leader’s detention is in relation to a 2019 lawsuit by a former MP of his party, who accused Abdulwahid of threatening to publish explicit images of them.