Iraqi court orders release of anti-corruption activist

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD

An Iraqi court on Tuesday ordered the release of a prominent activist less than a month after he was sentenced to two years behind bars for accusing the government of rampant corruption.

On Feb. 6, a court in Iraq’s southern Al-Muthanna province slapped activist Bassem Khazaal with a six-year jail term for “insulting and defaming government institutions”.

Khazaal’s lawyers appealed the sentence, prompting Iraq’s Federal Appeals Court to order his release on Tuesday.

According to Abdul Sattar Bayraktar, a spokesman for Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, the court attributed its decision to release Khazaal -- who will now face a retrial -- to “insufficient evidence”.

Jaber al-Asadi, an activist who took part in a recent wave of anti-corruption protests in Al-Muthanna, said Khazaal's release would serve to strengthen “the ongoing fight against government corruption”.

In recent days, Al-Muthanna had seen several large demonstrations against Khazaal’s incarceration. In some instances, security forces had to intervene to stop demonstrators from ransacking state institutions.

A dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen, Khazaal is known for being an outspoken critic of perceived government corruption, especially on the provincial level.

“Khazaal -- like all of Al-Muthanna’s civilian activists -- will not back down from his mission to expose graft and bring corrupt officials to justice,” al-Asadi asserted.

In recent years, Khazaal, usually writing under the pseudonym “Qassim”, has exposed numerous cases of government corruption.

Many of these have involved local officials, including Al-Muthanna Governor Faleh al-Zaidi and a handful of provincial council members.