Iraq approves 340 death sentences, after court rulings became final
Since defeating Daesh in 2017, Iraq has sentenced hundreds of citizens to death
Abu Dhabi: Iraq has ratified more than 340 death sentences issued by courts which became final in various terrorist and criminal cases, the Presidency announced Saturday.
An official source said the approvals took place after checking the cases from all their constitutional and legal aspects, including the exhaustion of all appeal methods, and the 2016 general amnesty, which is under implementation according to the procedures followed in the Ministry of Justice.
Since defeating Daesh in 2017, Iraq has sentenced hundreds of citizens to death for their alleged affiliation to the militant group.
In November, Iraqi authorities hanged 21 convicted terrorists and murderers at the Nasiriyah prison in the country’s south, according to an interior ministry statement.
The men had been convicted under a 2005 counter terrorism law, which carries the death penalty. Authorities did not give details about specific crimes, but the interior ministry statement said some of those executed were involved in two suicide attacks that killed dozens of people in the northern town of Tal Afar.
Since declaring victory over Daesh in 2017, Iraq has put hundreds of suspected militants on trial and carried out several mass executions.
Daesh captured a third of Iraq in 2014, but a US-backed military campaign largely defeated the group in both Iraq and neighbouring Syria over the following three years.
Hundreds of people in Iraq have been convicted in terrorism cases, but the authorities have carried out only a small proportion of the sentences, as they must be approved by the country’s president.