Iraqi judiciary prosecutes over 500 fugitives

The Higher Judicial Council in Iraq revealed on Wednesday that it is prosecuting over 500 fugitives accused of various crimes. Some are still at large while others have been arrested. It added that more than 100 groups specialising in the smuggling of important artefacts and currency counterfeiters were arrested during 2016.

In a joint press conference held yesterday for the judges of the council in Baghdad, Judge Mohammad Salman of the Integrity Court said that his court alone dealt with 505 cases related to the return of suspects accused of various crimes from outside of Iraq over the past year.” He did not reveal the nature of the accusations made against the fugitives, their identity or the total number of fugitives accused of crimes in other courts, other than his own.

Specialist money laundering and economic crimes Judge Eyad Hassan revealed that 65 gangs specialising in artefact trading and 51 other gangs specialising in counterfeiting local and foreign currencies have been transferred to the concerned courts to receive their punishment.

According to Chief Justice Medhat Al-Mahmoud, the head of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, “Precisely 7,186 people linked to a total of 8,976 cases were released over the past 9 months after the cases were presented to the Higher Judicial Council committees.”

The Iraqi Commission of Integrity announced the issue of arrest warrants last March against 18 ministers and over 2,700 state officials in relation to corruption cases in 2015.