Graft charges dropped against Iraq parliament speaker

By Muayad al-Tarfi

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraq’s judiciary on Tuesday dropped charges of financial corruption leveled against Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri due to a "lack of evidence".

A committee set up by the Supreme Judicial Council, Iraq’s highest judicial authority, to investigate the allegations "has decided to drop the charges due to a lack of evidence," council spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrakdar said in a televised statement broadcast Tuesday.

Commenting on the development, Tariq Harb, a member of the Iraqi Lawyers’ Syndicate, said the council committee "has not explicitly acquitted al-Jabouri of the charges".

If evidence of the charges against al-Jabouri materialize later, Harb said, "the judicial authorities could reopen the case".

Earlier Tuesday, Iraqi parliament voted to lift al-Jabouri’s immunity so that he might be investigated for alleged corruption and extortion.

The same parliamentary session -- which was chaired by al-Jabouri’s deputy, Aram al-Sheikh Ali and attended by 237 MPs -- also saw the immunity of two parliamentarians from the Alliance of Iraqi Forces, the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, lifted.

Late last month, Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi publicly accused al-Jabouri -- along with several MPs -- of engaging in corrupt practices.

Last week, al-Jubouri filed a defamation lawsuit against al-Obeidi, accusing the latter of making "false allegations", "misleading the public" and "insulting sovereign state institutions".