SWAT deployed to arrest activist over governor’s defamation complaint

AL-MIDHATIYA — Babil SWAT forces deployed across al-Midhatiya on Tuesday to execute an arrest and summons order against civil activist Dhirgham Majid al-Sultani, on a defamation complaint filed by Babil Gov. Ali Turki al-Jamali — the governor Sultani had asked to identify the men who shot him in April.

Forces had tried to arrest him at his home on Monday and did not find him, a security source told 964media. Video showed security vehicles and personnel across streets in the district on Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Ammar al-Shammari, media director for Babil Police Command, said the order came from the judiciary following a complaint and called the procedure normal. The complaint was filed under Article 433 of the penal code.

Sultani was shot in the left leg on April 21 in al-Hamza al-Gharbi, when two masked gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on him in a grocery shop. He accused Asaib Ahl al-Haq of responsibility, an allegation that has not been independently established, and called on Jamali, who is affiliated with the movement, to identify those responsible. A Babil criminal court sentenced a man to six years in July for helping transport the attackers, according to Shafaq News citing a judicial source. Sultani said he survived another attempt in July 2024.

Lawmaker Abdul Hamza al-Khafaji rejected what he called “arbitrary measures and attempts to restrict national voices” and said he was raising it with senior security authorities and parliament’s Security and Defence Committee to ensure the judiciary and security institutions were not used to restrict freedoms. The National Idrak Movement asked Babil police to explain the legal basis for the operation and which force was involved, and said authorities were responsible for Sultani’s physical and psychological safety.

He has organised protests in Babil and Baghdad, including a Baghdad march in October last year marking the anniversary of the 2019 protest movement, calling for judicial reform, accountability for corruption and the release of detainees.