Iraq to hang two on terror charges for 2013 assassination in Tikrit
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi judiciary issued a ruling on Monday to execute two individuals convicted of participating in the assassination of a police chief in the Salahuddin province, along with his aide, five years after the incident.
Brigadier General Ahmad al-Batawi and his assistant, Hamada al-Dukhi, were killed in late 2013 after an explosive device detonated on their convoy in the town of Shirqat, north of Tikrit.
Following this, the security forces arrested a number of suspects. The Supreme Judicial Council in a statement claimed the two individuals, during their trials, admitted to being involved in the assassination of Batawi and Dukhi along with “other defendants.”
The Salahuddin Criminal Court sentenced the two to death by hanging under article 4 of the Iraqi Anti-Terrorism Act, the judiciary added, without giving further details or mentioning the number or fate of the other defendants.
Authorities have yet to disclose the number of terrorism suspects in Iraqi jails, nor the number of people facing execution or life imprisonment related to terrorism charges.
International groups and human rights organizations, including the United Nations and Human Rights Watch, say efforts by Iraqi authorities to accelerate the implementation of death sentences could lead to the execution of innocent people, pointing to the nation’s deficient justice system.
The death penalty in Iraq was suspended on June 10, 2003, but was reinstated the following year.
Editing by Nadia Riva