Video of a group of men chanting slogans praising Hussein near the Kirkuk governor’s office earlier this week went viral on social media, drawing the ire of many. In the footage, one of the men is seen showing his mobile phone to others, with the former dictator’s photo on the screen. They were celebrating the results of Monday’s provincial elections.
The man with the mobile phone was arrested for “glorifying the tyrant and raising his photo along with a group of other people,” the Iraqi National Security Service said in a statement.
“In the same regard, the Kirkuk Criminal Court issued a five-year prison sentence for ten members of a network that our detachments in Kirkuk Governorate arrested earlier. They belong to the banned Baath Party and are working to promote it on social media platforms. Through the course of the investigation, they admitted their membership in the banned party,” read the statement.
The Arab Socialist Baath Party ruled Iraq from 1968 until 2003 when a United States-led invasion toppled its leader Hussein. The party is now banned in Iraq and Article 7 of the constitution prohibits adopting, glorifying or promoting symbols and propaganda of the former regime.
Hussein and his regime committed numerous crimes against humanity, including the Anfal genocide against the Kurds, which reached its peak in 1988 with the Halabja chemical attack that instantly killed 5,000 people and injured 10,000.
Hussein was executed before his trial on Anfal crimes was concluded. He had been sentenced to death in an earlier trial for the killing of 148 Shiites. He was hanged on December 30, 2006.
