IRAQ: CRIMINAL COURT GIVES DEATH SENTENCE TO TWO OVER EXECUTION OF TOP CLERIC SADR

July 1, 2025:

An Iraqi criminal court on June 30, 2025 sentenced two men to death for involvement in the execution of prominent Shia cleric Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister during the brutal crackdown of former dictator Saddam Hussein on religious dissent.
The Iraqi National Security Service announced in a statement on June 30 that the court convicted Saadoun Sabri Jamil Jumaa al-Qaisi and Haitham Abdul Aziz Faiq of participating in the assassination, which also targeted members of the Islamic Dawa Party and other civilians.
The statement described the ruling as part of Iraq’s broader transitional justice efforts, adding that the agency had arrested the suspects and conducted investigations under judicial supervision.
Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr was a renowned Iraqi Shia cleric and political dissident in Iraq, known for his opposition to the former Ba’ath regime. His resistance grew stronger after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which exacerbated Hussein’s concerns about a potential uprising in Iraq.
As the then-Baghdad government clamped down on Shia activists in 1980, Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda – a religious scholar and activist known for her vocal opposition to the Ba’ath regime’s oppression – were arrested.
They reportedly endured torture prior to their execution by hanging on April 8, 1980. Authorities declined to hand over their bodies, fearing their graves might serve as focal points for resistance.
Sadr is the father-in-law of the influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The execution of Sadr intensified dissent against Saddam, igniting movements that played a significant role in the eventual collapse of the Ba’ath regime.