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Iraq anti-corruption body charges 63 ministers during 2020

February 11, 2021 at 11:05 pm

An Iraqi counts his dinar banknotes on 22 June 2017 [Ali Choukeir/AFP/Getty Images]

The Iraqi Commission of Integrity announced on Thursday that it had charged 63 current and former ministers with corruption during 2020.

The commission disclosed that as many as 63 ministers were charged with 92 charges of corruption, while four ministers were convicted during 2020.

According to the commission’s statement, it had charged 8,891 people with corruption charges; 854 were convicted via court rulings during 2020.

“During the past year, the commission was able to return or prevent the waste of 1,250 trillion Iraqi dinars ($1 billion),” the statement noted.

The statement did not issue further details concerning the ministers or officials accused or convicted of corruption, nor the nature of the charges against them.

Last August, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi formed a special committee to investigate major corruption files, and assigned the tasks of implementing arrest warrants to a special force headed by the prime minister.

According to Transparency International, Iraq is among the most corrupt countries in the world.

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