No evidence linking PMF leader to activist killing: Supreme Judicial Council

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said on Wednesday that the investigative court did not find any evidence to prove the involvement of Qassem Musleh, a top leader in the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi), in the assassination of activist Ihab al-Wazni.

The statement, issued hours after Musleh was released from custody, said that the case into his involvement in Wazni’s death has been closed due to a lack of evidence. Musleh, who heads Anbar operations for the PMF, was in custody for less than two weeks.

"Qassem Musleh was accused of killing the activist Ihab al-Wazni, but no evidence was presented against him, especially as he proved, according to his passport information, that he was outside Iraq when Wazni was assassinated, and he denied committing or participating in this crime,” the council added, claiming Musleh did not incite against the activist.

“The crime of assassinating Wazni is considered a terrorist crime for which the law is punishable by death, and in the face of this severe punishment, there was not enough evidence to prosecute.”

Unknown gunmen assassinated Wazni, a prominent activist from Karbala, near his home in May. In a televised interview with al-Hurra last month, Wazni’s mother said that Musleh threatened to kill her son multiple times.

“Musleh once told my son, 'if there is only one day left in my life; I will use it to kill you,'” Samira al-Wazni said.

His release comes one day after the assassination of a top-ranked official from the Iraqi intelligence service, which was involved in Musleh’s arrest. 

Following his arrest in connection with Wazni’s death, access to Baghdad’s Green Zone, was completely blocked due to threats from pro-Iranian factions, calling on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to release Musleh. Channels affiliated with PMF threatened leaders in the intelligence service over the arrest.

"We expected that charges would be brought against the leaders of PMF, while the criminals would be turned into martyrs, and this is what happened," Musleh said after his release in a video published by Sabreen news, a Telegram channel linked to Iran-backed PMF factions. 

He was supposed to appear on the Iran-backed al-Ahed TV on Wednesday night, but said that "political pressure from Baghdad" prevented the broadcast from going ahead. 

Wazni’s mother said Musleh’s threats against her son date back to 2020, when he refused demands from Shiite religious figures to reopen private, fee-paying schools shut due to the protest movement.

Musleh, who was formerly the commander of the "law enforcement" forces of the Imam Hussain Shrine in Karbala, publicly threatened Wazni by saying, "I will teach you a lesson soon, I will kill you,” his mother said in a televised interview on Tuesday.

Since the start of the protest movement in October 2019, dozens of activists have been assassinated, and some have been kidnapped and tortured. The killers act with impunity as investigations have yielded little result.