Shakar Star, a Kurdish journalist, was traveling back to Erbil from Sulaimani with his family on Saturday night, when he was arrested at a checkpoint in Koya city.

Star was a reporter and presenter at Tiwar media outlet and upon reaching the Ashti checkpoint in Koya city, he was arrested and his car was seized.

His wife and two children were later accompanied back to Sulaimani as he was taken by an armed force.

The New Region tried to contact Sulaimani’s Asayish forces, but they were not immediately available for comment.

A source from the Kurdistan Region’s Asayish forces confirmed Star’s arrest to The New Region, however did not clarify as to why he was arrested.

The New Region contacted the Sulaimani branch of the journalists syndicate.

“We are not aware of Shakar Star’s arrest and we will investigate it,” head of the syndicate in Sulaimani Karwan Anwar said.

The New Region contacted Metro Center for Journalists Right and Advocacy regarding Star’s arrest.

“Shakar Star was arrested upon a lawsuit by Sulaimani Asayish,” Director of the watchdog Diyari Mohammed said.

“We spoke to his wife and she told us that Shakar was under the impression that his lawsuit was solved,” he added. “We reject the way he was arrested.”

It is still unclear to The New Region what the cause behind Star’s arrest was, and the grounds on which Sulaimani’s Asayish forces had filed their lawsuit, or even if there was an arrest warrant issued for him.