Samawah prison director arrested for accepting bribe to prevent inmate transfer

MUTHANNA – The Iraqi Federal Integrity Commission announced on Saturday that the director of Samawah Central Prison was arrested for accepting a bribe to avoid transferring a convicted inmate to another facility.

According to a statement from the Integrity Commission, its teams in Al-Muthanna Governorate caught the director “red-handed” after he solicited a bribe from a citizen to prevent the transfer of the man’s brother, who is serving a five-year sentence, to a different prison.

The commission’s media and government communications office detailed the operation, stating that the arrest was made following a judicial warrant. “The director had demanded a sum of money in exchange for keeping the inmate at Samawah Central Prison rather than transferring him to another facility in a different governorate,” the office explained.

The media office confirmed that the director was caught in the act during a “carefully planned sting operation.” The suspect admitted to receiving the money as a “gift” from the citizen to stop his brother’s transfer.

An official report was filed, and the suspect, along with the evidence, was presented to the investigating judge. The judge ordered the director’s detention under Article 308 of the Penal Code following the suspect’s confession.

Under Article 308 of the Iraqi Penal Code, any public official who seeks or accepts a gift, benefit, privilege, or promise for themselves or others, in exchange for performing or refraining from an act outside their official duties—yet claiming it was part of their role—faces imprisonment for up to seven years.