IRAQ: COURT ORDERS THE DEATH PENALTY FOR A POLICEMAN WHO KILLED A GOVERNMENT ADVISOR

May 8, 2023:

An Iraqi court on May 7, 2023 issued a death sentence for a policeman after he was found guilty of leading a group that shot dead the well-known analyst and government advisor Hisham al-Hashimi three years ago in Baghdad.
Al-Hashemi, who was advising the government on defeating ISIS fighters and ways to curb the influence of armed factions, was killed in front of his family’s home in Baghdad in July 2020 when gunmen riding a motorcycle bombarded him and killed him.
A statement issued by the Media Center of the Supreme Judicial Council stated that a court in Baghdad on May 7 issued a death sentence for Ahmed Hamdawi, based on the Iraqi anti-terrorism law.
Media were not allowed to attend the court session, but a lawyer who attended said Hamdawi did not say anything in court in response to the judge’s ruling.
A spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Council in Baghdad said it could appeal the verdict.
In 2021, Iraqi state television broadcast a video clip in which Hamdawi confesses to leading the group that killed al-Hashemi.
At the time, government officials said that al-Hashimi was the target of the attack, without accusing any specific group.