IRAQ: 7,900 PRISON INMATES SENTENCED TO DEATH, MP REVEALS

September 7, 2021:

The head of the Parliamentary Strategic Planning and Government Program Monitoring Committee, Hazem Majid Al-Khalidi, called on the Presidency of the Republic to abide by the constitution to implement death sentences against terrorists whose sentences were ratified indiscriminately, Shafaq News reported on 18 August 2021.
Al-Khalidi said in a statement, "The delay of the Presidency of the Republic in approving death sentences is unjustified and helps terrorism survive."
"There are about 7,900 inmates sentenced to death in Iraqi prisons, whose execution has been postponed for many years even though some of the sentences have acquired a peremptory degree, while others are awaiting appeals. We hope that the Judicial Council will give priority to expediting the resolution of cases covered by the anti-terrorism law."
Al-Khalidi indicated that delays will prompt Parliament to legislate a law allowing implementing the sentence after 60 days pass from the date of obtaining the peremptory degree if the President of the Republic delays ratification of peremptory death sentences approved indiscriminately.
"The Ministry of Justice should also seek to resolve these issues through continuous coordination with the judiciary and the presidency. It is unreasonable for Iraq to continue spending on terrorists and criminals at a time when the families of the victims and martyrs are at the mercy of the stressful economic conditions in the country", he noted.