Iraq’s parliament passes controversial amnesty bill
Rudaw
The new law which has split the parliament along sectarian lines and polarised the country will give partial or full amnesty to nearly 36,000 prisoners who have been in prison, some since 2004 without proper court procedures.
BAGHDAD, Iraq– Iraq’s parliament on Thursday adopted a law that offers amnesty to thousands of anti-government protestors who are currently in jails across the country, many on charges of terrorism.
The new law which has split the parliament along sectarian lines and polarised the country will give partial or full amnesty to nearly 36,000 prisoners who have been in prison, some since 2004 without proper court procedures.
The bill will also give amnesty to around 5,000 Shiite followers of the Iraqi cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr who were detained during former Prime Minister Nouri Maliki as part of crack down on Sadr’s paramilitary army in late 2000.
But the bulk of the prisoners who will be affected by the general amnesty are Sunni protesters who will be released virtually due to lack of solid evidence.
“There will be a number of different committees which will revise the cases of these inmates who have been unjustly treated by the system and help them to have a fair trail again,” said head of the Sunni faction Ahmed Mesari who also expressed delight for the new law.
Mesari said nearly 18,000 of the inmates have not been tried by a court which now will be assisted by the parliament’s committees.
Some lawmakers slammed the general amnesty and described it as a “covert support” for the insurgency in the country.
“This was a great mistake. Passing the law was an injustice towards our martyrs and it will support the systemic violence in the country,” said Shiite lawmaker Hesen Salim.
