ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Kirkuk court sentenced the head of the provincial council to six months in jail for spending millions of dinars illegally.Acting Kirkuk Provincial Council chief Rebwar Talabani is now living in Erbil and was sentenced in absentia.The court said Talabani spent 76 million dinars ($63,750) “outside of legal measures” and sentenced him to six months jail time, issuing a warrant for the arrest of the missing politician."If the money is not returned, his case will be referred to the Criminal Court for a trial, even in absence of himself," the court ruling added.The verdict has been sent to all government institutions and published in two local gazettes to make public the warrant for Talabani’s arrest.Talabani’s party, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), issued a statement slamming what it dubbed a “politically motivated” decision by the court that failed to maintain its neutrality."We are expressing our anger at the verdict and will take all the necessary political and legal measures to change this verdict,” the party stated, calling on other Kurdish parties to also take a stance based on loyalty to the homeland.The head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, agrees that the court’s ruling is "completely political, not related to judicial or legal subjects" and aims to “punish” Talabani."Rebwar Talabani has stood against the violations of the constitution and law. As the head of Kirkuk Provincial Council, he defended the interests of all the components of Kirkuk,” Barzani said in a published statement.Talabani himself was not immediately available for comment.He had earlier told Rudaw that he had to leave Kirkuk because "there were threats to my life."This is third legal proceeding against Talabani since he left Kirkuk for Erbil after the events of October 16, 2017 when Iraqi forces took control of the disputed province and many Kurdish politicians, business owners, and residents fled the city.Previous cases against him related to his support for hoisting the Kurdistan flag at the provincial council building alongside the Iraqi one – the case was dismissed by a federal court – and abandoning his post when he left the city – this warrant was put on hold pending an appeal.

Updated at 11:24 pm