The Iraqi judiciary defends the “integrity” of the trial of the murderer of researcher Hisham Al-Hashimi
The Iraqi judiciary defended the procedures for the trial of the killer of Iraqi researcher Hisham Al-Hashemi, and said that the investigation against him is still ongoing despite the case being dismissed and returned to the competent court that issued a death sentence against him.
Gunmen assassinated Al-Hashemi in front of his house in Baghdad, in July 2020, and the perpetrators fled after carrying out the assassination.
Al-Hashemi was one of the few Iraqi experts on extremist groups, especially ISIS, and over the years he helped the Iraqi government dismantle the organization’s hierarchy.
Those close to Al-Hashemi believe that he was killed after he turned to criticizing the armed factions loyal to Iran, after the Iraqi forces’ battles against ISIS ended and the majority of the cities it occupied were liberated.
Months before his assassination, Al-Hashemi published detailed research on the structure of the Shiite factions, which included the number of their fighters and the size of their armament. This, in the eyes of many, was “unprecedented boldness” in light of those factions’ control over the security services and key government components.
In an interview with the official news agency, the head of the Rusafa Criminal Court, Diaa Al-Kinani, said, “The local press greatly exaggerated in reporting Al-Hashemi’s case, and tried to link his assassination to the November 2019 demonstrations, and tried to accuse the government, parties, and factions.”
According to Al-Kinani, the incident was “a terrorist crime.” Because any act that sows or spreads fear or terror to a group, sect, or specific segment is considered terrorism, but social media and websites exploited this incident to bring down state institutions and some political parties and mix the cards.”
Ahmed Al-Kinani, the officer who assassinated Hisham Al-Hashemi – an archive photo of an Iraqi in front of a poster of the researcher Hisham Al-Hashemi, who was shot dead in Baghdad, July 2020 (AP)
However, the assassination of Al-Hashimi at the time caused concern among activists and academics in Iraq, that they would be an explicit target for armed groups, regardless of their immunity. Al-Hashemi was seen as “a person closely connected to all parties to the conflict in Iraq,” yet he was killed by 3 gunmen.
Almost a year after his assassination, state television broadcast video confessions of an officer with the rank of first lieutenant, named Ahmed Al-Kinani, who works in the Ministry of Interior. He said that he was “the one who committed the crime of assassinating Al-Hashemi.”
Many people doubted the confessions at the time, and there was a stormy debate about who commissioned this officer to assassinate Al-Hashemi, while activists circulated information about the officer’s belonging to an armed faction.
Because Al-Kinani’s trial took long sessions, and it was said that he did not attend a number of them, those close to Al-Hashemi expected that parties would pressure to acquit him of the crime, due to his political affiliation, and speculation reached the point that the killer was free and no longer detained.
But Judge Al-Kinani confirmed that “when the accused of killing Al-Hashemi was referred to the judiciary and tried, a campaign to attack the judiciary began, by broadcasting news about the smuggling of the accused due to political pressures, even though all of the accused’s trials were public in his presence.”
Al-Kanani said, “The death sentence issued by the Central Criminal Court in Rusafa against the accused was issued in light of the evidence in the case and collected by the investigative authorities.”
However, the Court of Cassation accepted an appeal against the decision from the defendant’s lawyer. Because he was subjected to illegal investigations by a special committee headed by Lieutenant General Ahmed Abu Ragheef, which was formed by former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.
The coordinating framework accused the committee formed by Al-Kadhimi of committing “numerous human rights violations in investigating defendants, including extracting confessions under torture,” which was denied by officials in the previous government, who indicated that these accusations carried a “political nature.”
Judge Al-Kinani explained that “when the Court of Cassation accepted the cassation, it turned to something important and precise, which is that the investigative body (Abu Ragheef Committee), which conducted the investigation with the accused, had previously issued a decision from the Federal Court that its formation was unconstitutional.”
According to the judge, the accused “challenged this party by using illegal means against him during the investigation.” However, “it was returned to the Central Investigation Court, and an investigation is currently underway with the accused regarding this incident, and the evidence presented regarding the case against the accused by the previous investigative committee will be scrutinized and evaluated.” He will then be referred to the competent criminal court to issue a decisive decision in this case.”
The judge confirmed that the accused is currently detained in one of the detention centers, and there is absolutely no truth to the reports that the accused was released by the Court of Cassation and released.
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2023-09-30 05:20:18
