Man sentenced to six years for Baath party affiliation and promotion

BAGHDAD — The Karkh Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced a man to six years in prison for joining and promoting the ideas of the banned Baath Party, according to a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council.

The court found the defendant guilty of attending meetings affiliated with the Baath Party and possessing materials promoting its ideology on his personal mobile phone.

The Baath Party ruled Iraq from 1968 until its fall in 2003 and remains banned under Iraqi law. It is associated with widespread human rights violations, including atrocities against the Kurdish population and suppression of political dissent.

The sentence was issued under Article 8, Paragraph 1 of Law No. 32 of 2016, which prohibits the Baath Party and entities engaged in racist, terrorist, or extremist activities.

In October, the Accountability and Justice Commission reaffirmed that it is actively tracking former Baath Party members and preventing the resurgence of Baathist ideology through a centralized database and coordination with other state institutions. A specialized unit also monitors content in media, academia, and cultural sectors in cooperation with the Communications and Media Commission.

In early November, the Karkh Criminal Court sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for promoting the ideology of the banned Baath Party through social media.