INA discusses 13 files with the President of Al-Rusafa Criminal Court

Baghdad-INA
 
The President of Al-Rusafa Criminal Court, Diaa Al-Kanani, explained the details of the rulings issued against the perpetrators of the Speicher crime, and the details of the cases of Abdullah Sabawi and the killer of Hisham Al-Hashemi.
 
" Al-Rusafa Criminal Court is affiliated to the Presidency of the Baghdad Rusafa Court of Appeal at the Supreme Judicial Council as its jurisdiction covers the entire Rusafa region, which represents the largest appellate area in Iraq in terms of geographical area and population, and extends from Al-Husseiniyah region up to the administrative borders between Baghdad and Diyala, through all areas and territories adjacent to the Tigris River by Al-Rusafa to the administrative boundary with Wasit governorate ", Al-Kanani said in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
He added that "the jurisdiction of Al-Rusafa Criminal Court is to hear all investigative cases referred from the investigating courts in these areas, pointing out that "all these investigative cases that constitute a felony crime (which are crimes punishable by imprisonment for more than five years) are referred to the Rusafa Criminal Court, but if the crime is a misdemeanor (which are crimes punishable by imprisonment for five years or less), it is referred to the Misdemeanor Courts”.
 
Camp Speicher massacre
 
 
"The crime of Speicher committed by the terrorist organization ISIS is a crime against humanity and internationally condemned in which more than 3,000 students were assassinated without guilt. The Supreme Council of the Judiciary and its President, Judge Faiq Zidan, have directed the presidencies of appeal in all regions of Iraq and the courts of inquiry for the prosecution of terrorism cases to follow-up, prosecution of anyone involved in this crime." he said." most of the terrorists who committed this crime were tried and punished by death ".
Al-Kanani reassured “the families of the victims of the Speicher crime that most of the perpetrators of the crime were punished according to the law,” pointing out that “all of these rulings have acquired a final degree.”
He stated that "The remaining of those terrorists are being prosecuted locally and internationally, in addition to issuing judicial decisions to seize their movable and real estate assets, circulating arrest warrants against them throughout Iraq and Interpol, and banning their travel," explaining that "most countries are sympathetic to Iraq and have provided assistance to arrest the perpetrators of this crime, and rejected most of the terrorists’ requests for political asylum.”
 
The decision to release Abdullah Al-Sabaawi
He stated that "News was received from a secret informant to the Central Investigation Court that there is a group of defendants, including Abdullah Yasser Al-Sabaawi (who is the grandson of Sabawi Ibrahim Al-Hassan, who is considered one of the cronies of the former regime) involved in the Speicher massacre, and despite the directives issued by the Supreme Judicial Council... Not relying on a secret informant, but due to the seriousness and importance of the crime and the fact that it relates to large numbers of martyrs, legal measures were taken to verify the authenticity of the information and this news, and an arrest warrant was issued against him and circulated internally and abroad.”
He pointed out that "through Interpol and in accordance with the existing laws and agreements with Lebanon, he was arrested in Lebanon and handed over to the Iraqi side. He became the responsibility of the Iraqi judiciary and was investigated for this crime," explaining that "the Iraqi judiciary is considered among the ranks of developed countries in terms of the guarantees it provides for the accused, as stipulated in the Iraqi criminal procedure laws and human rights principles, the accused’s political, social, religious, ethnic, or sectarian background is not considered, but rather the accused is looked at according to the evidence proven against him.”
He pointed out that "The investigation with Sabaawi's grandson was conducted by the Central Investigation Court, which includes competent, impartial, and experienced judges and well-trained investigators. Investigations proved that the accused was 7 years old in 2003 when the previous regime fell and left Iraq at the age of 8 years, and according to what was proven through official correspondence and the answers of the Embassy of the State of Yemen and the Embassy of the State of Lebanon and through his confession that he moved with his family outside Iraq (Syria) at the age of 8 years after the fall of the previous regime in 2003 and resided there until 2008, then he moved with his family to (Yemen) and He was placed under house arrest until the war broke out in Yemen and he was taken out of Yemen in September of 2014 to (Jordan), that is, three months after the Speicher incident. Thus, it has been proven to us that Abdullah Yasser Sabawi was not in Iraq in 2014 until September, and he was present in Yemen and did not leave and  he was under house arrest," explaining that "he was arrested in Lebanon pursuant to an arrest warrant and the International Interpol warrant."
"The investigations with Abdullah Yasser Sabawi showed that he did not participate in material, media or moral support for the crime, and had nothing to do with terrorist operations."
 
 
He pointed out that "most state institutions are exposed to media attacks, and terrorism has a role in such attacks. After  the decline of the terrorism  operation like bombing, killing, kidnapping, and sabotaging public and private buildings and state institutions, to the development of the security forces' ability to confront terrorism and the painful strikes that it carried out. Terrorism began to resort to other means, including circulating rumors about state institutions and weakening people’s confidence in them through social media and some media outlets,” noting that “some media outlets and social networking sites recently published the decision to release Abdullah Yasser Sabawi, and with the same news, pictures of his arrest by Interpol in Lebanon, accompanied by a video clip of a person resembling the accused Abdullah Yasser Sabawi, as he recounts his confessions of killing the Speicher students,”.
 
He stressed that "this news aims to provoke the feelings of citizens, especially the families of the victims of the Speicher crime," pointing out that "these actions are tendentious and have terrorist goals to attack the judiciary and undermine people's confidence in its decisions."
He stated that "the accused who appears in the video clip attached to the news is the accused, Muhammad Badawi, who was previously interrogated and confessed to participating in the Speicher crime and a death sentence was issued against him, and this ruling was confirmed by the Court of Cassation,”.
 
The case of the citizen Hossam
He stated that “A person impersonated a citizen in 2007 and cooperated with armed groups and was arrested, but the Criminal Court decided to release him due to insufficient evidence,” noting that “any decision issued by the Criminal Court to release is implemented immediately without waiting for the result of the cassation.”
He stated that “when the decision was sent to the Court of Cassation, it was overturned, as the Court of Cassation found that the evidence was sufficient for the ruling, and the case was returned to the Rusafa Criminal Court, and an arrest warrant was issued against the accused, but it was not implemented because the accused who impersonated the name fled, and after years, the arrest warrant was executed to arrest the person who impersonated The accused was named, and this person was arrested, and during his trial and the recording of his statements, he did not mention this important part before the court about the fact that he was not the one who intended by the arrest warrant.”
Al-Kanani reassured “the accused and his father that our judicial system has sufficient guarantees that prevent injustice or error from occurring against any accused,” explaining that “this case was automatically sent to the Court of Cassation, and the accused appealed this ruling before it, and his claim will be examined by the competent criminal authority in the Court of Cassation and what the accused presented in his appeal, and what his father stated in the media will be the focus of the Court of Cassation’s scrutiny in this case.”
 
He pointed out that "some media outlets do not seek accuracy and disseminate information without ascertaining its credibility, with a view to achieving a scoop. In the case of the assassination of the media, Hisham al-Hashimi was extremely well informed about the event and tried to link the assassination to the events that were taking place in the country at the time," affirming that “ When the accused of the murder of Hisham al-Hashimi was brought to justice, the campaign began to target the judiciary, by broadcasting news of the smuggling of the accused due to political pressures to which the judiciary was subjected despite the fact that all the trials of the accused were present and public ",
Al-Kanani confirmed that “the death sentence issued by the Central Criminal Court in Rusafa on the accused of the assassination of Hisham Al-Hashemi was issued in light of the evidence in the case and collected by the investigative authorities, and it issued its decision based on the investigations conducted by these investigative authorities and based on the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Crimes Law, . After the accused is sentenced, the case must be sent to the Court of Cassation for the purpose of reviewing the ruling. The accused, through his representative, appealed this ruling before it and appealed the procedures of the investigative committee that investigated him. However, the Court of Cassation, after reviewing the case and the ruling’s decision, decided to overturn it and return the case to the competent investigation court.
He stated that “the Court of Cassation was very precise in its decision, and paid attention to something important and precise, which is that the investigative body that conducted the investigation with the accused in this case was (the Abu Ragheef Committee), whose formation had previously been decided by the Federal Court to be unconstitutional, especially since the accused appealed that this committee used illegal means against him during the investigation,” pointing out that “the case was returned to the Central Investigation Court, which includes the most qualified judges and investigators, and it investigated the case. An investigation is currently underway with the accused regarding this incident, and the evidence presented regarding the case against the accused will be scrutinized and evaluated by the committee. The previous investigation will then be referred to the competent criminal court to issue a decisive decision in this case.”
He stated, "The accused is currently placed in one of the detention centers and is under judicial custody, but the distorted and biased media entered a second time and gave the public opinion the perception that the accused was released by the Court of Cassation and released."
Impact of drug law penalties
 
"The issue of drug trafficking and its spread is not linked to intensifying of penalties. Iraq's current Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act No. 50 of 2017, although it has some legislative lapses, but it contains deterrent penalties amounting to death and life imprisonment."
He stated that "the drug crime has become a phenomenon on the same scale as the phenomenon of terrorism that the country has been exposed to," pointing out that "the entry of drugs into the country after terrorism, according to our personal opinion, is a deliberate plan to destroy society and youth and break up social ties even within one family, behind which there are parties hostile to Iraq and the Islamic nation."
 
Explaining that "most drug users and dealers carry weapons and do not hesitate to use them to kill others or confront security forces," stressing that "the solutions to this phenomenon are to develop a new criminal policy and not just tighten the punishment, and to distinguish between the drug user and the one who is sick and needs the attention and care of the state And society and help him get out of his addiction.”
The case of controlling the cultivation of the Marijuana plant in Al-Jadriya
Al-Kinani said“The cultivation of the marijuana plant was seized in a house in the Jadriya area in Baghdad, and those involved in it were a pharmacist and a dentist,” pointing out that “this came against the backdrop of one of the doctors using marijuana during his dispatch to a European country, as he began using marijuana, which is permissible in some countries and he became addicted to them while he was there.”
He stated that "upon his return to Iraq, his need for this narcotic substance became apparent due to the state of addiction to its use. He therefore agreed with one of the merchants abroad to send this substance by mail for smuggling. And because of the high cost of sending this narcotic substance to Iraq, he thought of learning to grow the narcotic plant via the Internet. He brought special equipment for this plant and planted it inside the house of one of his relatives, and its cultivation succeeded.”
He stated, "This person began giving narcotic drugs to his friends in the medical community, and began trading in them," noting that "the doctor was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment."
Interpol cooperation
He stated that “the cooperation file with Interpol was previously inactive, but at the present time the Presidency of the Public Prosecution has adopted the extradition file, especially for integrity and terrorism cases, and there are international agreements with neighboring countries to hand over and receive wanted persons,” noting that “this file is activated and followed up and includes procedures.” "Effectively, quickly, and through the Head of Public Prosecution."
He stressed that "there are some countries that are not cooperating because of the second citizenship that the wanted person possesses," explaining that "efforts are continuing to extradite the wanted persons, and Iraq has begun to implement the principle of reciprocity."
 
The tribal disputes
He explained that "the tribal raid has become a phenomenon and is creating terror, and the Judicial Council issued directives to consider this phenomenon as terrorism," pointing out that "these measures have reduced the tribal raid by 90 percent."
 
Indicant content
He stressed that "the Judicial Council adopted the issue of indecent content and it decreased by 90 percent," explaining that "there are other phenomena that need to legislate laws."
 
The case of the child being killed by his stepmother
 
Al-Kinani confirmed that “the decision of the Karkh Criminal Court against the perpetrator, the stepmother, in the case is correct, as she was sentenced to 15 years in prison, which is the maximum penalty,” pointing out that “there is a difference between killing a person and trying to harm a person.”
He continued, "The law distinguishes between the two cases," explaining that "the stepmother in this case abused, beat, and tortured the child with the intention of harm, but not with the intention of killing, but the result that resulted from her harming him was his death."
He stated, "The legal description specified by the Karkh Criminal Court for the perpetrator's act in accordance with Article 410 of the Penal Code was very accurate and applies to the act of the crime and the motive for committing it."