Iraqi Court Issues Sentences to Officials Involved in Corruption




Iraqi court has issued 26 prison sentences to high-ranking Iraqi officials in a push to eliminate corruption and fraud in the country.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider al-Abadi, announced on his Twitter account that his government has taken crucial steps to stop corruption in the country, and has already arrested and sentenced a number of former and current Iraqi officials.

The sentences reportedly range from six to fifteen years, Iraqi News reported.

Among the sentenced officials is the Director of Transparency and Corruption Prevention in the Integrity Commission, Abdel Ilah Khadim al-Aboodi, who was given a 15-years sentence. Also Bruska Noori Aweys, former Defense Ministry Secretary General, sentenced to 14 years in prison. Former Defense Minister, Hazim al-Shalan, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison and Mohsin Shlash, former Minister of Electricity, sentenced to 7 years in jail.

The General Manager of the Department of Finance, Abdel Amor Baker Khathim, was also among the people, who received a sentence of 15 years. The previous minister of agriculture, Sawsan Al Sharifi, was also convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison, while former transport director general Faisal Naji Malo was jailed for 7 years.

Baghdad launched a series of investigations into alleged corruption schemes within the Iraqi government, after Iraq was ranked 166th out of 176 countries in the Transparency International's Corruption Index.

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