Judiciary says alleged Interpol notice for ex-interior minister is forged

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said Tuesday that a document circulating online, which claimed prosecutors had sought an Interpol red notice for former Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari, was forged and had not come from the judiciary.

The council’s media center said it had spotted a social media post carrying what purported to be a red notice request in the name of the Public Prosecution, and stated plainly that the document was fake. “This document is forged and untrue,” it said. The council said the paper did not originate with prosecutors and should not be treated as authentic, and warned that those who produced or spread it would face legal action.

The fabricated document, dated June 30, had claimed prosecutors were seeking al-Shammari’s arrest and extradition over alleged corruption and that he had left Iraq for Belarus, neither of which the judiciary supports.

The forgery surfaced as Iraqi authorities pursue a sweeping anti-corruption campaign against senior officials, lawmakers and political figures. That operation followed the arrest of former Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili and widened after what state media described as his confessions, with coordinated raids inside Baghdad’s Green Zone and state media publishing names of current and former officials said to be linked to the investigation. Only some of the reported arrests have been independently confirmed.