Following viral scandal in March
Basra computer college dean sentenced to 15 years in prison
BASRA – Emad Al-Shawi, the dean of the College of Computing at the University of Basra, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Sunday by the Basra Court of Appeal. The sentence followed the circulation of images and videos showing Al-Shawi with a female student in his office at the college.
Al-Shawi was arrested March 21 in connection with a scandal involving inappropriate images leaked from his office’s surveillance cameras. He was charged with committing an indecent act.
The arrest was under Article 393 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which penalizes “any person who has sexual intercourse with a female without her consent or commits buggery with any person without their consent” with a term of imprisonment not exceeding 15 years.
The law imposes stricter penalties if the offender is a public official, clergy, doctor, or exploits their position, profession, or trust to commit the act.
Following the incident, Ahmed Al-Aboudi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Higher Education, said the ministry decided to suspend Dean Al-Shawi after the scandalous images circulated on social media accounts.
The publishers of the images claim they were extracted from a video.
Al-Aboudi also emphasized that such actions are criminal under the laws and are completely unacceptable.
“The responsibilities entrusted to all individuals working in educational institutions are educational and ethical, and such acts should never occur,” he added.
