Security

Baghdad Criminal Court releases killer of al-Hashemi due to lack of evidence

"The court rejected all charges against Hamdawi in the murder of Hisham al-Hashemi, stating that the evidence was unsubstantiated and his previous confessions did not prove his guilt," a lawyer informed.

Kurdistan 24 2024/03/26 09:23

A combined photo of the slain Iraqi security expert Hisham Al-Hashimi (R) and his convicted assassin Ahmed Hamdawi Oued al-Kenani (L). (Photo: Designed by Kurdistan 24)

Iraq Hisham al-Hashimi Assassination Baghdad Iraq Baghdad Criminal Court

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The Baghdad Criminal Court has ordered the release of the killer of the renowned Iraqi journalist and political observer Hisham al-Hashemi. The killer was a security officer, and the crime was committed with police weapons, according to investigation documents.

According to legal sources, Baghdad's Criminal Court ruled in secret on the murder of Hisham al-Hashemi and released Ahmed Hamdawi Oued al-Kenani due to a lack of evidence. Al-Kenani, who had been arrested and sentenced to death by the Baghdad Criminal Court in May, was set free.

The lawyer further explained that the court's final decision stated that there was no legal basis for the charges, leading to the release of the accused as he faced no charges in any other case.

Hisham al-Hashemi, an expert and researcher in the field of extremist ideology and terrorist groups, was shot and seriously injured in front of his house in Baghdad's Zayouna area on July 6, 2020. He succumbed to his injuries after being taken to Ibn al-Nafees Hospital in Baghdad.

Following his assassination, the Associated Press reported that weeks before his death, al-Hashemi expressed fear to trusted individuals that he might be targeted by Iranian-backed militia groups. His friends had reportedly advised him to seek safety in Erbil.

Iraqi activists have previously accused Iranian-aligned militias, which operate as part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), of carrying out an assassination campaign, aimed at silencing critics of the PMF and of Iranian intervention in Iraqi affairs more generally.

After Iraq declared victory over ISIS in December 2017, al-Hashemi focused on Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups and criticized some of them.

A year after al-Hashemi's assassination, former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi stated on July 16, 2021, "We promised to capture Husham Alhashimi’s killers. We fulfilled that promise."

The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) sentenced Ahmed Hamdawi Oued al-Kenani to death for the murder of Iraqi political observer Hisham al-Hashemi on May 7, 2023.