SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Twelve months have slipped by since security forces loyal to Sulaimani's ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) stormed the Lalezar Hotel and seized Lahur Sheikh Jangi, the leader of the opposition People’s Front. Yet his case floats in limbo, ensnared in a dispute over where it truly belongs.

Jangi, a Kurdish lawmaker and former PUK co-president, is still detained with his brother Polad and other defendants. His lawyers want the Kurdistan Region Court of Cassation in Erbil to review the case, saying the Sulaimani court is influenced by politics.

The legal battle over which court should hear the case is now central to the story.

Jangi’s defense team says the Sulaimani judiciary has not sent the original case file to the Court of Cassation, even after several requests. The appeal, filed in October 2025, is still awaiting a verdict, leaving everyone uncertain.

“So far, Sheikh Jangi’s dossier has been suspended since October 23, 2025, by the courts in Sulaimani, refusing 12 pleas by the Kurdistan Region’s High Cassation Court to send the dossier to Erbil due to political pressures on Sulaimani courts,” Dana Taqiadin, spokesperson for the defense team representing Jangi and the Lalezar detainees, told The New Region.

“Sending the dossiers to Erbil is a legitimate right of the detainees. After Sulaimani’s Third Court became serious about sending the dossiers to Erbil, judiciary officials withdrew them from the court. They submitted them to Sulaimani’s Second Criminal Court, which so far has not complied with the Kurdistan Region’s Court of Cassation to send the dossiers to Erbil,” he explained.

A single hearing unfolded in January, only for subsequent sessions to be postponed. According to the defense team, May’s hearings were also adjourned, leaving both the Lalezar case and a separate case against Jangi without resolution.

“Any ruling against our clients by Sulaimani’s Criminal Court is null, since the Court of Cassation has asked for their dossiers to be sent to it,” Taqiadin said.

The defense team has denied all accusations and says it will not address the charges until its clients appear before a court designated by the Kurdistan Region’s Court of Cassation.

A night of gunfire and chaos

The standoff erupted on the evening of August 21, 2025, as waves of heavily armed PUK-affiliated security forces encircled Jangi’s residence at the Lalezar Hotel in Sulaimani’s Sarchinar district.

The PUK accused Jangi and his associates of plotting to assassinate its leader Bafel Talabani and his brother, Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani. The party also accused Jangi’s supporters of operating as an unlawful armed group.

The authorities had issued arrest warrants under Article 56 of Iraq’s Penal Code, which concerns criminal conspiracy. Jangi and others were also later linked to Article 406, relating to deliberate murder, after several fighters were killed during the operation.

Before the clashes, Jangi denied the accusations and questioned why police had not been sent to arrest him if there was a valid judicial warrant.

“According to the law, police forces should carry out Article 56 [arrests], but they carried it out through heavy military forces,” Taqiadin said.

After 3:00 am on August 22, the standoff turned into gunfire between PUK forces and Jangi’s Dupshik, or Scorpion force, inside the hotel. The PUK used tanks, armoured vehicles, and drones. The fighting lasted about three hours and involved both light and heavy weapons.

Jangi, his brother Polad, and hundreds of fighters were taken into custody. The clash left at least three PUK security force members and two Scorpion force members dead, with dozens more wounded on both sides.

The operation drew criticism for using excessive force in a residential area. The Kurdistan Region’s Independent Human Rights Commission said using counterterrorism units and heavy weapons for routine arrests was more show than standard procedure.

The PUK maintains that its forces were carrying out court orders and that Jangi’s supporters resisted arrest. His party rejects that account and has described the operation as politically motivated.

This incident was unusual and marked the biggest split so far between two cousins who once led one of Kurdistan’s strongest parties together.

Detentions and access to lawyers

Taqiadin said 27 people arrested during the Lalezar operation remain in custody at two security-run facilities in Sulaimani.

“Lahur and Polad are currently detained by Sulaimani security [forces], reportedly for their protection, as Lahur remains a member of the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council,” he said. “The others are held at Sulaimani’s Kani Goma prison.”

He said defense lawyers have not been allowed to see their clients for three months, but relatives have visited the brothers. Families say the detainees are physically healthy, but the long detention has affected them psychologically.

Jangi is also a British national.

“Both the UK Consulate General and the Foreign Affairs are asking for weekly reports from us regarding the dossiers of Sheikh Jangi’s brothers,” Taqiadin said.

Sources close to the case, who spoke anonymously, told The New Region that PUK officials offered to release Jangi if he stepped down as leader of the People’s Front and allowed the party’s two parliamentary seats to support a political alliance between the PUK and the New Generation Movement.

“I am refusing all political deals with PUK,” Jangi said in response to the offer, according to one of the sources.

The PUK has not publicly confirmed the alleged offer.

From Kobane to the PUK split

Before his split with Bafel Talabani, Jangi was a leading figure in the PUK’s security forces. He built his influence through the Counter-Terrorism Group and the Zanyari intelligence agency, and was known as an important Kurdish ally in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).

His leadership during the 2014 defense of the symbolic Kurdish city of Kobane in northern Syria is still seen as a key part of his legacy.

As ISIS besieged the Kurdish city, Jangi helped coordinate intelligence and logistical support between Iraqi Kurdish authorities, Western coalition partners, and Syrian Kurdish defenders. He publicly detailed US arms and medical airdrops to Kobane, while reports at the time described PUK-linked operatives helping pass information for coalition air support through a coordination center in Sulaimani.

The KRG’s decision to send Peshmerga forces through Turkey to reinforce Kobane was a major moment in the war against ISIS. The defense of the city became the first major battlefield success against the group and helped establish the foundations of the wider anti-ISIS partnership between the US-led coalition and Syrian Kurdish forces.

Supporters say those years show Jangi’s influence goes beyond party politics. Critics believe the security networks he built later became his personal power base in Sulaimani.

In February 2020, Jangi and Bafel Talabani became co-presidents of the PUK. The arrangement lasted less than a year and a half. In July 2021, Jangi lost his security posts as Bafel Talabani consolidated control over the party’s institutions.

Jangi went on to form the People’s Front, which won two seats in the Kurdistan Region’s October 2024 parliamentary election.

Though elected to parliament, he has yet to take the oath, leaving him without parliamentary immunity. His lawyers insist they will pursue all legal avenues to secure his swearing-in if parliament reconvenes.

A case with political weight

The legal drama has played out against the backdrop of a prolonged political stalemate in the Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)  holds 39 seats in the 100-seat parliament. The PUK has 23 seats, while the New Generation Movement holds 15. In July, the PUK and New Generation formalised an alliance, giving them a combined 38 seats — one fewer than the KDP.

The two parties had long been rivals in Sulaimani, but their relationship shifted after New Generation leader Shaswar Abdulwahid was released from prison in January.

Despite almost two years of negotiations, the parties have yet to fully reactivate parliament or form a new KRG cabinet.

The People’s Front has only two seats, but in a closely divided parliament, those seats are important. This keeps Jangi’s case politically sensitive, even while it is handled by the courts.

For the PUK, this is a matter of security, judicial authority, and enforcing laws against armed factions. For Jangi and his allies, it is a test of whether a political party can ever hope for a fair hearing in Sulaimani.

Zoom TV caught in the crossfire

The Lalezar raid sent shockwaves through Zoom TV, a Sulaimani-based satellite channel backed by Jangi’s financial support.

During the operation, PUK forces entered the studios, stopped broadcasts, and detained several journalists, who were later released.

Hemn Mahmoud, the director of Zoom TV, told The New Region that PUK forces damaged and removed equipment and confiscated money intended for employees and daily operations.

He said the channel was still trying to recover two offices and seeking compensation for losses estimated at nearly $2 million

A year since the Lalezar raid, the echoes of gunfire have faded, but the political and legal struggle rages on. The original case file and Jangi’s future remain locked in Sulaimani.