Diyala Police deny torture allegations against mentally ill man accused of defacing Qassem Soleimani poster

DIYALA — The Diyala Police Command has denied allegations that officers tortured a mentally ill man accused of tearing down an image of Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force until his 2020 assassination in Baghdad by the U.S.

The image, part of a larger billboard that also depicted late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, also killed alongside Soleimani, became the focal point of controversy after the incident.

Reports from the family of the accused, Abdullah Hussein Ali, included medical documents diagnosing him with schizophrenia. Concurrently, photos circulated online showing the young man restrained with visible injuries, sparking outrage.

However, in a video statement, the man’s father claimed that the photos were old and showed his son restrained at home to prevent harm from passersby.

In a statement released Saturday, the Diyala Police refuted the torture claims, calling the arrest a “legal procedure” necessary to prevent public backlash over the incident. “After investigating the matter and contacting his family, it was confirmed that the individual suffers from mental health issues,” the statement read.

The police also addressed the circulating photo of the man in restraints, clarifying, “The image in question does not depict him in a prison setting but shows him restrained by his family. The individual is currently being treated in accordance with the law under the direct supervision of Diyala Police Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kazem Atiyah.”

Lt. Col. Haitham Salman Al-Shammari, the head of Diyala Police Media, has reportedly reached out to the family to reassure them and facilitate legal procedures.