Among them is a general amnesty… The Supreme Judicial Council reveals details of its procedures in the cases of Nour Zuhair and Al-Jumaili
The Supreme Judicial Council revealed on Friday that legal and constitutional procedures are being coordinated with the Prime Minister’s office to reduce judicial procedures against those accused of administrative and financial corruption, provided they voluntarily return public funds. The Council confirmed that the same mechanism adopted in the “tax deposits” case will be followed with those accused in the “North Refineries Company” file.
The judiciary explained in a statement received by the Al-Maalomah Agency that “the tax deposit case is summarized as follows: the actions of follow-up companies (including the companies “Al-Qant” and “Al-Mubdi’un” belonging to the convicted Nour Zuhair) in withdrawing the financial deposits belonging to foreign companies that they deposit with the tax authority at a rate of 5% to guarantee the completion of projects,” noting that “the withdrawal process was carried out through irregular procedures and with the collusion of employees in the authority.”
The statement indicated that “based on a previous agreement between the heads of the Judicial Council and the (former) Council of Ministers, and with the approval of the competent judge, the main defendant, Noor Zuhair, was released on bail in exchange for paying the money in installments to reduce his sentence, as 365 billion dinars were recovered out of more than 1 trillion and 618 billion dinars owed by his two companies,” explaining that “this amount is part of the total funds withdrawn from Al-Rafidain Bank through several companies, amounting to more than 3 trillion and 831 billion dinars.”
He added that “after the accused traveled and stopped paying, he was referred to the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court, and a sentence of 10 years imprisonment was issued against him in absentia, with the organization of an extradition file and contacting the International Interpol to arrest him.”
He pointed out that “Nour Zuhair’s lawyer submitted a request to include his client in the amendment of the amnesty law in force in exchange for completing the payment of the remaining amounts owed by him,” noting that “his inclusion in the decision is still pending, awaiting a response from the Ministry of Finance (the affected party) to agree on the payment mechanism.”
The statement explained that “different judicial rulings were issued in this case, including: rulings in person, which are: imprisonment for 12 employees of the tax authority who helped in the illegal withdrawal operations, and people (not employees) who exploited their relationships with the Minister of Finance at the time to facilitate the crime, and their movable and immovable assets were confiscated, in addition to the confiscation of real estate and funds in Iraq and Kuwait belonging to some of the convicts.”
He added that “the in absentia sentences, which are: imprisonment for the director of the Prime Minister’s office at that time and a number of advisors, with the organization of extradition files and arrest warrants for others (with the possibility of including everyone in the amnesty law if they pay what they owe), noting that the investigation against the Prime Minister, during whose government the crime occurred, was closed due to insufficient evidence.”
Regarding the case of the “North Refineries Company” and the accused, Adnan Al-Jumaili, who is detained in it, and a number of members of the House of Representatives, the Supreme Judicial Council confirmed that “the same procedures will be followed (reducing the penalty in exchange for recovering the funds) if the crime was committed before the effective date of the amendment to the amnesty law and the accused paid the amounts to the affected ministry.”
He explained that “if the crime was committed after the amnesty law came into effect, the accused will be dealt with according to different procedures and contexts because they are not covered by the amnesty,” noting that “a legal roadmap has been developed with the Prime Minister to achieve the two goals: recovering state funds and easing the procedures for those who return them voluntarily.”
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