An Iraqi body tasked with investigating corruption has begun court proceedings against a number of former and current officials, in cooperation with a government-founded anti-corruption council.
Iraq’s Integrity Commission, tasked with investigating cases of corruption has upped the ante on past and current corruption cases in recent days.
Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi previously announced on October 10 that the Anti-Corruption Council would refer cases of nine former ministers and governors for trial.
Iraq is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, ranked 168 out of 180 countries by Transparency International.
On November 17, the commission clarified details regarding a court summons in Saladin for former Iraqi Minister of Science and Technology Abdulkareem al-Samarayi.
The former minister, alongside Samara’s unnamed district mayor, is said to owe 61 billion dollars (approximately $51 million) which had been allocated as funds for the districts of Samara and al-Siniyah in Saladin province.
The body, in its announcements, however, does not name all of the individuals who are being taken to court.
It also announced the summons of an MP for “scam contracts” issued under his past tenure as head of Nineveh Provincial Council.
According to the Commission, the current MP issued more than 60 contracts used as election propaganda during his post.
One of the current high ranking officials facing corruption charges is the Governor of Babil. On Tuesday, the Integrity Commission announced that Babil’s Criminal Court has issued an “arrest and investigation warrant” for the current governor of Karar al-Abadi.
The arrest warrant was issued after the current governor failed to attend a court hearing for a corruption case.
The court had also imposed a travel ban on the governor on November 7.
The corruption case surrounds alleged relationships with construction suppliers in the province.
The highest judiciary authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, announced on Monday that its Karikh Investigative Court specialized in integrity cases has also issued a travel ban on a member of parliament.
“The Karikh Investigative Court specialized in integrity cases issued an arrest warrant against MP Talal al-Zubayi, with a travel ban and a confiscation of his transferrable and non-transferrable property,” the court said on Monday.
This latest round of corruption cases against current and former officials is amid ongoing protests in the south of the country.
Iraqis have been on the streets since October 1, 2019, protesting corruption, unemployment, nepotism, among other things.
Iraqis, however, were met with deadly force by security forces, such as military-grade tear gas and live rounds. At least 320 protesters and members of the security forces have been killed since October 1, with around 15,000 others wounded due to the clashes between security forces and protesters.
This has prompted Iraq’s government under Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to start half measures of reform, despite the demand of the protesters of an overhaul of Iraq’s electoral laws, constitutional amendments, and a change of the ruling system from parliamentary to presidential.
It is amid this that the government has also decided to step up efforts to speed up measures to hold the corrupt accountable.
Spokesperson for the office of PM Saad al-Hadithi, on Monday, confirmed the court orders to state media Iraq News Agency, saying anti-corruption efforts will continue.
“Coordination is ongoing between the head of the Supreme Judicial Council and the head of the Anti-Corruption Council on the judicial level to follow up on corruption cases,” al-Hadithi said.
The Anti-Corruption Council was a body formed in the first months of Abdul-Mahdi’s tenure in office, and includes judiciary, Integrity Commission, and government members.
The Council was formed to strengthen coordination between different authorities in the country to coordinate the fight against corruption .
The country, which exports a daily average of around 3.5 million barrels of oil per day is suffering from a lack of electricity, services, and unemployment, with millions of Iraqis living below the poverty line.
by Mohammed A. Salih
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