Iraq issues 6 arrest warrants against senior officials in July
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s judicial authorities issued six arrest warrants for current and former senior officials during the month of July, in addition to nearly 50 summons, revealed the country’s integrity commission on Tuesday.
A total of 54 orders were issued against top officials in the previous month, comprising of 48 summons and six arrest warrants.
The arrest warrants and summons were issued for eight former ministers, two current undersecretaries, five former undersecretaries, and four former governors, according to the commission, without specifying which official received which order.
Rampant corruption plagues all levels of the Iraqi state. The country ranks as the joint tenth most corrupt nation in the world according to the Transparency International annual corruption perceptions index.
Since assuming the Iraqi premiership in October, Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has frequently reiterated his cabinet’s commitment to battling the endemic corruption that plagues the Iraqi state, and has not shied away from sacking numerous officials in high-level positions.
A Baghdad court on Sunday ruled to freeze the assets of the country’s former Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar on account of exploiting his position and receiving bribery.
An investigation by the Iraqi finance ministry in October concluded that $2.5 billion in tax funds were stolen from the General Commission of Taxes’ account at Baghdad's Rafidain Bank between September 2021 and August 2022, during the tenure of former finance minister Ali Allawi.
A total of 54 orders were issued against top officials in the previous month, comprising of 48 summons and six arrest warrants.
The arrest warrants and summons were issued for eight former ministers, two current undersecretaries, five former undersecretaries, and four former governors, according to the commission, without specifying which official received which order.
Rampant corruption plagues all levels of the Iraqi state. The country ranks as the joint tenth most corrupt nation in the world according to the Transparency International annual corruption perceptions index.
Since assuming the Iraqi premiership in October, Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has frequently reiterated his cabinet’s commitment to battling the endemic corruption that plagues the Iraqi state, and has not shied away from sacking numerous officials in high-level positions.
A Baghdad court on Sunday ruled to freeze the assets of the country’s former Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar on account of exploiting his position and receiving bribery.
An investigation by the Iraqi finance ministry in October concluded that $2.5 billion in tax funds were stolen from the General Commission of Taxes’ account at Baghdad's Rafidain Bank between September 2021 and August 2022, during the tenure of former finance minister Ali Allawi.