ALBAWABA - Iraqi government spokesman announced the prosecution of a number of Iraqi senior intelligence officials amid extortion and torture charges against those who were involved in corruption cases.
In 2020, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, a former prime minister of Iraq, established a supreme committee to oversee corruption cases. The committee then launched a massive arrest campaign against individuals who were suspected to be involved in corruption cases.
After Al-Kadhimi's time as prime minister came to an end, several opposition groups decided to pursue the supreme committee's members for allegedly using torture to coerce confessions and information from people who were being investigated for corruption.
The government released a statement regarding the issue, which reads: "The investigation committee recommended that the file and the full investigative papers be referred to the judiciary. To prove the negligence of the detainees, the guarantors, the fugitives, and everyone whose name was mentioned in the judicial investigation, in order to obtain a just penalty according to the law, and to refer the individuals, who contributed to these violations, to retirement".
The number of senior officials referred for judicial investigation so far is 10, including Ahmad Abu-Rgahaif, and 8 others with military rankings of Brigadier General, Colonel, and Lieutenant. Additionally, 4 officers were referred to the judicial investigation including a former general director of intelligence services.
In March, Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani decided to suspend the supreme committee activities and launch an investigation regarding the lodged complaints against those in charge of the committee, in conjunction with a decision of the Federal Supreme Court to invalidate the Committee's constitutionality.
