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Authorities in the Iraqi Kurdistan region are set to free Berivan Ayoub Hassan, a 35-year old mother of five held without charge for over 16 months, following the release of two more "prisoners of conscience" last Thursday, a lawyer defending the prisoners told °®Âþµº.

Hassan, along with hundreds of other protestors from the Badinan area of Duhok province, was accused by the Kurdistan Region's Security Council (KRSC)Ìý of "endangering national security"Ìýon the back of 2020.

Her trial was postponed twice before she was sentencedÌýon 6 MarchÌýto two years in prison for her participation in the anti-government demonstrations.Ìý

"God willing, Berivan will be freed this week,"ÌýBashdar Hassan, a lawyer defending the Badinan prisoners, told °®ÂþµºÌýduring a brief phone interview. "All the prisoners were charged with destabilizing Kurdistan's security, but the court could not prove those accusations."

"The prisoners cannot ask for compensation once freed from jail," he noted.Ìý

For their parts,ÌýMasoud Ali Shingali, 48, and Sherwan Taha Ameen, 36, were arrested in Duhok in August and September of 2020Ìýunder the charge ofÌý"espionage for foreign countries and endangering national security" and both were freed last week by the Kurdish authorities, according toÌýcourt documents obtained by °®Âþµº from a defence lawyer handling their cases.

Both men were convicted by Erbil's Criminal Court on 8 SeptemberÌý2021 under article 156 of Iraqi Penal Code Law No. 111 of 1969, which has been amended by the Kurdistan region's parliament and was replaced by Law No.21, for the year of 2003.

On 27 March,Ìýthe Erbil Appellate Criminal Court reduced the sentences of Shingali and Ameen from two and a half yearsÌýand three and a half years, respectively,Ìýto two years each.

After they had spent two-thirds of their sentence in detention, Dohuk'sÌýAppeal Court decided on 13 April to release them on the condition they do not repeatÌýtheir charges, otherwise, they willÌýbe arrested again.Ìý

Ameen, a from the School of Education at the University of Glasgow with a Master's Degree in Adult EducationÌýin 2015, has been working at Nawroz University in Duhok as aÌýlecturer for theÌýEnglish language.

The release of the prisoners follows immense scrutiny onÌýthe Kurdish authorities by the international community, rights groups and the international media.ÌýÌý

"The KRG inconsistently applied procedures to address allegations of abuse by KRG's ministry of interior officers or the Asayish security forces. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) reported in August and December some IKR prisons failed to respect basic standards and procedural safeguards and that the mechanisms in place to receive complaints of torture did not appear to be effective or to provide remedy,"ÌýThe United State State Department said in its 2021 report on human rights practices on Tuesday.