Adviser says corruption suspects will face public trials

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is preparing public trials for suspects held in Iraq’s Green Zone anti-corruption operation while confidential investigations into further corruption networks continue, his legal affairs adviser said.

Mounir Haddad, the judge who signed the execution order for former President Saddam Hussein, told state broadcaster Al Iraqiya that the campaign would not end until cases reached open court. “There are no exceptions in the operation,” Haddad said. “The government will bring down many networks, and the campaign will continue and will not end except with public trials, while the investigations remain confidential.” He said he personally knew the judges running the inquiry, calling them “very courageous and very strict” and saying they would spare no one as it widened.

Haddad estimated that corrupt officials had stolen more than 2 trillion dinars (about $1.3 billion) since 2003, alleging that every government office held both “a big fish and a small fish,” and said those who appointed the officials now under investigation should also be held to account.

He said assets recovered from convicted officials would go to the state treasury, and described Zaidi as “a young man rebelling against corruption” with strong international backing.

Haddad dismissed suggestions that Green Zone detainees might be released, saying a suspect leaving custody for medical reasons would not mean a case had ended. Defendants accused of stealing large sums, he said, would have to post bail equal to the amount allegedly stolen, and the investigations would stay confidential until trial.

The remarks follow the launch of the first phase of “Dawn Strike,” the operation inside the Green Zone. Security and political sources previously told 964media the raids were planned in near-total secrecy and targeted current and former officials in a widening investigation centered on former Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili. Authorities have given differing figures: the state news agency said 47 people had been arrested, while government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi put the number in custody at 21, with others at large. 964media could not independently verify the figures.