Unidentified gunmen kidnapped, on Monday evening, German activist Hila Mavis, director of the cultural section at the German Goethe Institute in Baghdad, from a street in the Iraqi capital, while Iraqi security forces began a search for the kidnappers, in conjunction with requests from Iraqi activists to release her.

An Iraqi security official said that the German activist was kidnapped on Monday evening from the Corniche of the Tigris River in central Baghdad, meters away from the "installation" center supporting the young artists who work in it. This was while touring a bicycle on Abu Nawas Street, which runs along the Tigris River to the Karrada neighborhood in central Baghdad. "

The spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, Major General Saad Maan, said that the Iraqi security forces are still searching for the disappeared German citizenship, adding that there is "security interest and directives from the Minister of Interior Othman Al-Ghanmi to the security forces in various sectors to intensify efforts to search for them."

Commenting on the incident, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced - today Tuesday - that his ministry has called for a meeting of its crisis team, against the background of the kidnapping of German citizens in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Today, during his visit to the Greek capital, Athens, Mas said that he does not intend to state clearly on the issue "to take into account the feelings of those affected," adding, "but we have begun in the German Foreign Ministry to take care of the issue and find a solution in which the person concerned is secured and satisfied."

Since the beginning of this year, two French journalists have been kidnapped for several days, in addition to 3 human rights workers, who were released after two months of detention after being kidnapped with an Iraqi in the Karrada neighborhood itself.

Since the start of the unprecedented popular uprising last October, dozens of activists have been subjected to assassinations or kidnappings, some of whom are still missing.

Recently, the Iraqi researcher Hisham Al-Hashimi was assassinated by gunmen in front of his house in Baghdad.

A friend of Myvis confirmed that her friend had expressed her concern since the assassination of Al-Hashemi, as he was supporting the cause of the protesters. "We spoke last week, and she was worried after the assassination because she was active during the protests," Zekra Sarsam said.

reactions

In Baghdad, a number of representatives of Iraqi civil society organizations demanded today, Tuesday, the government and security services to disclose the fate of German citizenship, and work to release her immediately.

It also issued the tag #Related_Helamius in the Twitter platform, after a campaign launched by Iraqis on social media to demand the release of the German activist.

Iraqi singers said that the German activist Hela Mavis has helped many young artists over the past six years, after she founded the "House of Installation" art organization that organizes an annual festival for young artists, calling on the Iraqi government to intervene immediately to release Mavis.

I remember once I saw her editing, Abali, a journalist, and the second time she saw the escalation in the line of repulsion. twitter.com/osjq5SBtUv

- October (@ AhmedSataar10) July 20, 2020

We will not keep silent.

I never imagined that Hella would be kidnapped.
I'm still shocked, I want her to come back to us safely.
Please help Hella
Do something !!! # Release_Helamius pic.twitter.com/iW4X3ZAf0X

Ali Al_Mikdam (@ali_almikdam) July 20, 2020

The kidnapping of a German activist from central Baghdad, two days after the meeting of a Siemens delegation with Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi and discussed a project to rehabilitate the power stations that had been completed. Iraq would dispense with the electricity of Iran,
the militia state.

# Release_Helamius pic.twitter.com/HEZFeEkwMh

- Othman Al-Mukhtar (@othmanmhmmadr) July 21, 2020

Another kidnapping!
The German Hella Mewis was kidnapped on Abu Nuwas Street near the installation house at 8 pm on July 20, 2020.
Enforcement of security is the duty of the state #hella_mewis
Hella Mewis # Release_Hilaya #freedom_for_hella pic.twitter.com/7dLCHvmEbI

- Jasem Al-Halfi (@jassimalhelfi) July 21, 2020