The Kirkuk Misdemeanor Court sentenced four employees of the Kirkuk Governorate Office, including one of the brothers of Rakan Saeed al-Jibouri, the acting governor of Kirkuk, on charges related to “corruption.” It also released three other defendants in the same case.
The decision of Misdemeanors Court was issued on Monday, November 22, 2021 by Judge Asso Haider Omar, based on complaints from the Public Prosecutor, the Governorate Administration and the Ministry of Electricity.
During the court session, the cases of seven defendants were examined, four of whom were sentenced to prison terms, while the other three were released due to lack of sufficient evidence.
A source in Kirkuk Misdemeanor Court anonymously told KirkukNow the judge of Kirkuk Misdemeanor Court decided to sentence four defendants to nine months in prison, including Ali Saeed Ali, the brother of the acting governor of Kirkuk, Rakan Saeed al-Jibouri, and Qasim Ibrahim, the head of the planning department in County office."
According to the court order, of which KirkukNow obtained a copy, Ali Saeed, Riad Ahmed Taher, Qassem Ibrahim and Khaled Nayef Ahmed were sentenced to nine months in prison.
Rakan Saeed al-Jubouri, current acting governor and the winning candidate for the Iraqi parliament representing the Arab Coalition, was appointed as acting governor by a decision of former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, instead of Najm al-Din Karim, who was dismissed from his position in September of the same year by a decision of the Iraqi parliament.
Al-Jibouri has replaced the governor of Kirkuk following October 2017 events when Iraqi security forces launched (Imposing law) operation and ousted Kurdish administration and forces from the disputed territories including Kirkuk.
The northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, located 238 kilometers north of Baghdad, is an ethnically mixed province for 1.6 million Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Arabs, and Turkmen. It has long been at the center of disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil.
The source pointed out that the trial took place amid strict security measures and that the defendants had been interrogated months ago, but they were released on bail until the date of the court session.
Currently, Iraqi army, local and federal police, Brigade 61 of Special Forces along with Shiite paramilitary of Popular Mobilization Forces PMF, are under Kirkuk joint operations’ command, an umbrella for the security forces running the security of Kirkuk province.
The source revealed that three other persons accused in the same case were released, including Qutaiba Rakan Saeed al-Jubouri, son of the governor of Kirkuk.
The Kirkuk Misdemeanors Court verdict stated that it has decided to release Qutaiba Rakan Saeed, Othman Muhammad Qadir and Ibrahim Khalifa due to insufficient evidence.
The trial of these seven and the imprisonment of four of them was based on Article 331 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which states: “Any employee or person charged with a public service who willfully commits a violation of the duties of his position or refrains from performing one of his duties with the intent of harming the interest of an individual or with the intent to benefit one person at the expense of another or at the expense of the state, will face imprisonment and financial penalty.”
In October 2019, al-Jibouri said 14 employees of Kirkuk administration were surrendered to court based on a complaint by a Kurdish member of Iraqi parliament representing the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, who were holding senior positions in Kirkuk.
