Iraq jails officials over corruption charges

Two Iraqi officials have received a seven-year jail term from the Iraqi’s Commission of Integrity over mismanagement of more than seven million dinars ($5.8 million) of public funds.

The commission in a statement on Sunday August 16, 2020, said that Martyrs Foundation former board members committed violations as the head of the expedition to renovate the temple of Agerguf, 30 kilometres west of the country’s capital of Baghdad.

The statement noted that the defendants had “intentionally” misused public funds and “abused their positions by committing multiple violations.”

“After reviewing evidence, carrying out administrative investigations, checking a report by the state’s Board of Financial Supervision, as well as the presumption of the convicts’ escape, the commission issued a sentence in absentia to seven years in prison against the defendants in accordance with the provisions of Article 340 of the Penal Code,” the statement reads.

The commission also issued two arrest warrants against the defendants, and seized their assets.

The city where the temple was built, also called Agerguf, was established in the 14th century and is now best known for its 52-metre temple, built by the Kassites and later used by the Sumerians as a place of worship.