Lahur Talabani sentenced to 5 years for plotting assassination

SULAIMANI, Iraqi Kurdistan region,— A criminal court in Sulaimani sentenced jailed opposition figure Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabani to five years and three months in prison on Thursday for planning a felony, his lawyer told reporters.

Talabani, former co-president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and leader of the People’s Front, known as Baray Gel, received the longest term among those charged in the case.

His lawyer, Dana Taqiyadin, said the court finished hearing the criminal conspiracy charges and confirmed plans to appeal the ruling.

Talabani’s brother, Polad, along with other men detained during clashes with Sulaimani security forces last year, received shorter sentences.

Channel8 reported that the court issued final rulings in last year’s Lalazar case, delivering separate prison terms for each of the main defendants.

Lahur Jangi Talabani received five years and three months. Polad Jangi, Rebwar Qudrat, Peshewa Hassan, and Renwar Zryan each received three years and six months.

Rebwar Hami Haji Ghali was sentenced to two years, while Aras Hama Ali and Sarbast Mina Hama each received one year and six months.

Taqiyadin said judges based their decision on physical evidence gathered from the shooting scenes in and around the Lalazar Hotel in Sulaimani, where Talabani and several armed men had fought security forces on August 22, 2025.

The cousins, Polad Sheikh Jangi Talabani (R) with Bafel Talabani (C) and Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabani (L), Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, May 2021. Photo: Polad’s FB

In August 2025, a security official said Talabani was arrested along with his two brothers following an armed standoff with security forces in Sulaimani.

Forces loyal to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said they had stopped an alleged plot to kill the party’s leader, Bafel Talabani, who is Lahur’s cousin.

In September 2025, Bafel Jalal Talabani, the party’s president, called the armed clash at the Lalazar Hotel a serious security breach and urged accountability through legal means instead of violence.

A video released by a security agency linked to the party showed six men identified as members of Lahur Talabani’s guard unit saying they had been ordered to kill him.

The footage showed what appeared to be silencer-equipped sniper rifles aimed at a window facing the party leader’s headquarters.

The men said they had rented an apartment in a nearby high-rise building to carry out the plan. The security agency said the suspects claimed they were acting on Lahur Talabani’s orders.