Prisoner dies in Baghdad jail weeks before scheduled release

BAGHDAD — Salah Mustafa, a 56-year-old man from Salah Al-Din’s Tuz Khurmatu, passed away inside Baghdad’s Central Prison just one month before his scheduled release after serving 12 years behind bars. Mustafa, a father of four, was due to regain his freedom after completing his sentence.

“We were informed late last night by Baghdad’s Central Prison authorities that he had died in custody,” said Hiwa Ibrahim, Mustafa’s nephew, speaking to 964media.

He added that an investigation has been launched into the cause of Mustafa’s death, with initial suspicions pointing to a possible heart attack. “He had a history of heart issues, and we are awaiting the final results of the investigation,” Ibrahim stated.

According to Ibrahim, Salih Mustafa had been incarcerated since 2005 following a conviction for homicide and was later transferred to Tikrit’s prison. In 2014, during the chaos of the ISIS insurgency, when many prisoners managed to escape, he was among those who fled. He was rearrested in late 2021 to serve the remaining months of his sentence.

“After so many years in prison, he was finally about to return to his family in Tuz Khurmatu,” Ibrahim said. “He had just one month left to serve when this tragedy happened.”

Mustafa’s body will be handed over to his family following the completion of prison and medical procedures. He will be buried in his hometown of Tuz Khurmatu, in the Rizgari neighborhood.