ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Jailed Kurdish opposition leader Lahur Sheikh Jangi has expressed willingness to appear before any court in the Kurdistan Region, provided that “the trial process be entirely free from party interference,” according to a message delivered through his defense team on Thursday.

Dana Taqiadin, a member of Lahur Talabani's defense team, said the message reiterated that Jangi is ready “to appear before any court, in any location in Kurdistan, on the condition that the trial process be entirely free from party interference and where the law would reign supreme.”

The message was addressed to the Kurdistan Region Presidency, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the Presidency of the Judicial Council, the Public Prosecution, and the public.

Jangi, head of the opposition People's Front, has accused Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani and Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani of exerting “pressure” on courts and institutions to prevent his case from being referred to courts in Erbil.

In August 2025, forces affiliated with the PUK besieged the residence of People’s Front leader and former PUK co-chair Jangi, leading to Jangi’s arrest after a violent conflict that spanned hours and saw dozens killed and injured on both sides.

Dozens of Jangi’s men remain in prison, many of whom have gone on a hunger strike in protest of what they have described as inhumane treatment and torture in detention.

On May 14, Jangi and his associates were put on trial at Sulaimani’s Appellate Court for their alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Bafel Talabani, in a session that did not go on for long.
 
The hearing had been extensively delayed since the arrest of the opposition leader around 9 months earlier, with Jangi’s lawyers demanding the legal proceedings be moved to Erbil for what they believe would be a more transparent and fair trial, while also decrying the reported human rights violations members of Jangi’s security team have been subjected to in prison.