Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said on Friday it is coordinating with Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi's government on a legal framework that would ease judicial measures against corruption suspects who voluntarily return stolen public funds.
The proposal would apply the same mechanism used in the high-profile Tax Deposits case —known in Iraq as the "Heist of the Century"— under which reduced penalties were linked to the recovery of state money.
The council noted that the framework could also be applied to suspects in the North Refineries Company case, including detained businessman Adnan al-Jumaili, provided the alleged offences were committed before amendments to Iraq's Amnesty Law took effect and the defendants repay the money owed to the affected government institution. For offences committed after the amended law entered into force, suspects would not qualify for amnesty and would instead face different legal procedures.
The judiciary added that the initiative seeks to achieve two objectives: recovering public funds and encouraging suspects to return the money voluntarily in exchange for reduced judicial measures.
This is a developing story...