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Former Iraqi minister sentenced over corruption

Xinhua, November 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Iraqi court on Thursday sentenced a former environment minister to two years in prison over charges of graft, the judicial authority said in a statement.

The integrity criminal court "heard a case concerning the former minister of environment Sargon Lazar Slewah on corruption charges, and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment," the statement quoted Chief Judge Jum'a al-Sa'idi as saying.

It said that Slewah, who was taken into custody, was also fined by the court to pay 338 million Iraqi Dinar (about 285,000 U.S. dollars).

Earlier, the judiciary authority issued many warrants of arrest, including for minister of trade Malas Mohammed, and summoned many senior officials, including former minister of electricity and former acting mayor of Baghdad, over different graft charges.

The latest measures are part of a comprehensive reform plan pledged earlier by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to combat corruption and mismanagement.

There have been massive demonstrations by angry Iraqis in Baghdad and several other cities in the south against slack public services, power shortage, and massive corruption. Endit