In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful

Dear brothers of the BRussells Tribunal for peace and solidarity,

My greetings to you and to all people who are hearing my voice. It’s a great honor for me to be with you today and to receive this prize. I would like to thank you for this recognition which is not only important for me but for all the young revolting Iraqis. It’s a testimony that it’s our right to fight for freedom and democracy that are lost in our country. 

As you may know we suffer from an illegitimate regime on many levels. On the one hand it’s the Anglo-American occupation’s agent and it was imposed on the Iraqi people during the occupation, on the other hand it became an authoritarian regime that doesn’t hesitate to kill the Iraqi people in order to stay in power. It is supported by the USA and then by Iran, and let’s not forget Israel. All are exacerbating the misery of the Iraqi citizen. There is no sense in talking about a discrepancy between Iran and USA and Israel for many reasons. Now it’s not the time to dwell on them.

Ladies and gentlemen, I was supposed to be present among you to receive this prize but our suffering in Iraq lies in this siege that separates us from the outer free world. We can hardly make our voices heard.

Dear brothers, as you know, there is a popular movement in Iraq since 2024 and not only since two months ago as some might imagine. The popular movement had two types: one is the armed resistance against the occupation and the other are peaceful demonstrations in Iraqi squares to express people’s voice.

Peaceful demonstrations in Iraq for change started several years before the beginning of the Arab spring and it’s all documented by us. But we were attacked by the occupation’s controlled media which is now controlled by the puppet Iraqi regime.

The state is brutally repressing the peaceful protesters for the only reason that they are protesting against the injustice and the tyranny of this Shiite government which in fact doesn’t represent us as Arab Shiites in any means.

Ladies and gentlemen, since 70 days now we are rising up in different Iraqi provinces and our only demand is to live in freedom and peace. This American occupation-imposed government does not represent us in any means. Especially us, in the South of Iraq, are suffering from a dangerous Iranian rule, because the United States has handed Iraq over to Iran on a silver plate which brings Iraq from North to South under Iranian control.

Ladies and gentlemen, on my behalf and on behalf of the Iraqi people, I would like to express my extreme gratitude for your honoring gesture.

In my turn I would like to congratulate sister Ayşe Berktay for receiving the prize as well. I also demand the Turkish authority to set her free and to give her amnesty because she is a peaceful activist for freedom and peace for her country and people.

Finally I would like to dedicate this prize to the martyrs of the Iraqi resistance, especially those who were killed in Fallujah the 25th of January 2024 by the governmental forces in an immoral and inhuman way, without any reaction taken, neither by local nor by international human rights organizations.

Dear Brothers, I assure you that we will continue to demonstrate in the squares of dignity and pride and to lead our peaceful strikes, stressing that it’s a not politicized Iraqi popular movement, and that we won’t stop until the fall of this regime installed by the occupier. We don’t care if a newly created government would be Sunni or Shiite, Christian or Kurd. The important thing is to have an Iraqi national regime that represents the will of all the Iraqi people.

May the peace and blessings of god be upon you.