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The teenager was pulled away by Duhok police for not wearing a mask. Photo: screenshot
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Video footage that went viral on social media on Thursday shows two police officers in Duhok arresting a teenager with excessive force for not wearing a mask in public.
In the video, police officers can be seen approaching the teenager before twisting his arm and pulling him away.
When Rudaw English asked Duhok police spokesperson Hemin Sulaiman about their treatment of the teenager, he said, “What have the police done? He was the one who swore at the police.”
“The young boy insulted the police by swearing at them when they told him to wear a mask. After getting him into the car, the police saw that he was too young and decided to let him go,” Sulaiman said.
Police officers then arrested his brother for swearing at them.
“When our police approached him, they saw that he was drunk and they arrested him,” he added. He has now been charged with insulting police and drunk and disorderly behaviour.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health minister announced on Tuesday a fresh set of restrictions in the Kurdistan Region as coronavirus cases have surged after Newroz.
The new restrictions were imposed a year after the first lockdown in the Kurdistan Region in March 2020, when the first cases of the virus were recorded.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has expressed concern over the surge in COVID-19 cases across the Region.
"This is not the time for complacency or politics," the premier tweeted on Monday. "Our health sector is being tested again."
Erbil's provincial coronavirus crisis cell warned on Sunday that it would impose a complete lockdown for the sake of public health if residents did not adhere to health guidelines, which include wearing masks in public.
The health ministry on Wednesday announced 981 new cases recorded in 24 hours. The Region has seen a total of 122,160 cases since the pandemic began last year.
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