Warrants issued for former labor minister eight days after he denied being wanted

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi court has issued two arrest warrants for former Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ahmed al-Asadi under an illicit enrichment law and allegedly benefiting from government contracts he oversaw, according to court documents released Sunday. The warrants were signed on July 29, eight days after Asadi publicly denied being wanted by the judiciary.

The investigating judge of the Central Criminal Court for Combating Corruption, sitting at Baghdad’s Karkh Court of Appeal, ordered Asadi’s arrest and the search of his property in two separate investigations opened by the Federal Commission of Integrity. One warrant alleges he failed to prove the legality of an increase in his assets, under Article 19(2) of the Commission of Integrity and Illicit Gains Law of 2011. The other alleges he facilitated contracts unlawfully to obtain benefits for himself and others, under Article 319 of the penal code.

Asadi said on July 21 that he was not wanted and faced no warrant. “I am not wanted by the judiciary, and no arrest warrant has been issued against me,” he said in audio statements, which was accurate at the time. He said he had been abroad for medical treatment when “one of those close to me” took actions that raised suspicions, that he had stayed silent during a media campaign for fear of affecting the investigation, and that he had opened his offices and records to investigators. He acknowledged that money belonging to him had been seized but said it was lawful and “less than the figures that were announced.”

His denial answered Coordination Framework leader Amer al-Fayez, who had said Asadi was abroad on an official mission and feared returning because he expected to be detained. Fayez told Al Rabiaa TV the alliance had raised the case at a meeting and was told the former minister “will be arrested” on his return, and that its leaders had authorized Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi “to act with an iron fist even if the accused is from the Coordination Framework, provided the legal measures do not include humiliation or damage to reputation.”

Asadi was labor minister under Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and is a senior figure in the Coordination Framework, the Shia alliance that backs the government. His case is the first at that level within the alliance since the campaign began.

The warrants follow the arrest of Ahmed al-Jubouri, leader of the National Masses Party, in Baghdad on Saturday, the second leader of a Sunni political bloc detained in two months after Azm Alliance leader Muthanna al-Samarrai was held in late June.

Investigations have widened since the arrest of former Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili in May, covering government contracts, money laundering and misuse of public funds. Investigators have itemized recoveries of about 82 billion dinars and $131.6 million in cash along with 424 kilograms of gold.