Ihab al-Wazni's brother: Qassem Musleh's release is illegal

The brother of the Iraqi activist, Ihab Al-Wazni, told Al-Arabiya: Political pressure is behind the release of #Qassem_Mosleh..No one comes out on bail or for lack of evidence in “4 terrorism” cases pic.twitter.com/tUrtmDQpX0— Arabic (@AlArabiya) June 9, 2021

The Council said in a statement that “the judiciary deals with any case presented to the courts according to the evidence obtained in it and stipulated in the law, and there is a difference between the preliminary investigation procedures and the following, As the judiciary may issue an arrest warrant or summons against a particular person according to information provided by the security investigation authorities of the executive authority, and after the execution of the arrest warrant, the judiciary, in cooperation with the security services, investigates the crime attributed to the person against whom the arrest warrant was issued. If there is evidence, he must be referred to the court to be tried for the crime. The investigative judge takes the decision to refer, and if the investigative authorities do not provide sufficient evidence against the accused, the investigation is closed against him and he is released.

Iraqi activist Ihab Al-Wazni – AFP

He added that, “With regard to the case of the assassination of activist Ihab Al-Wazni After clarification from the judges specialized in the investigation, it was found that Qassem Musleh was accused of killing the activist Ihab Al-Wazni, but no evidence was presented against him, especially that during his appearance before the judges and the recording of his statements, he proved that According to the passport information, he was outside Iraq at the time of the assassination of al-Wazani, and he denied committing or participating in this crime. The investigation court did not find any evidence to prove his involvement in that crime, directly or indirectly, whether by instigation or otherwise.

He continued, “Therefore, the decision was taken to release him after he was kept in detention for 12 days, during which exceptional efforts were made to find any evidence related to that crime, but the investigation authorities were unable to provide evidence, especially that the Wazni family, while recording their statements, did not provide any evidence regarding that according to the law with It should be noted that the crime of assassinating the activist Al-Wazani is considered a terrorist crime, the perpetrator of which is punishable by death by law, and in the face of this severe punishment, there was not enough evidence to carry out the trial of the reformer and to impose this severe punishment in the absence of evidence.”

From the funeral of Ihab Al-Wazni (AFP)

On Wednesday, the leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Qassem Mosleh, was released two weeks after his arrest on charges of assassinating activists.

A government source blamed the judiciary for the killing of activists. release him. “From our side, as the government, we presented all the evidence related to Musleh’s file, but the judiciary took the decision to release him due to pressures exerted on him.”

Following the announcement of Musleh’s arrest two weeks ago, factions launched A pro-Iranian show of force at the entrances to the Green Zone in the capital, which includes government headquarters and embassies, including the US embassy.

The government source said that the evidence included “phone calls between a reformer and the perpetrators of the assassinations, testimonies of witnesses and families of the victims and threatening letters.” To the families of the victims” proves Mosleh’s involvement in the assassinations, while the judiciary confirms that it does not have enough evidence to continue detaining Mosleh, according to the same source.