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Iraq’s Integrity Commission refers four senior officials to court over corruption charges

February 19, 2016 at 10:26 am

Iraq’s Commission of Public Integrity referred on Thursday four former senior officials to court on charges of corruption.

The Commission said in a statement released on Thursday that it had referred to court two former deputies of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the former director of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s military office and Baghdad’s former mayor.

The statement explained that Bahaa al-Araji, Saleh al-Mutlaq, Farouk al-Araji and Naim Abo’ab are accused of graft and exploiting their positions to illegally amass wealth.

Mohamed Hamidi, a member of the Integrity Committee, told Anadolu agency: “The Commission’s decision is in line with the government promises that this year will be dedicated to the fight against corruption.”

The Public Integrity Commission announced in August that it had referred 2,171 senior officials, including 13 ministers, to the courts of misdemeanour and corruption, revealing that the former ministers of defence, trade and electricity and transportation are among the most wanted by the judicial authorities.

According to Transparency International’s Corruption Index, Iraq is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.