Five election officials will be put on trial in Iraq in connection with fraud, including vote buying, during the country’s May legislative elections, a judicial official said on Saturday. The suspects were the heads of election offices in Salaheddin, Kirkuk and Anbar provinces as well as those who oversaw the voting in neighbouring Jordan and Turkey, Judge Laith Hamza said. All five have been sacked “and will appear before the courts” in connection with allegations of fraud, Hamza said. The decision to put them on trial has been taken following recommendations made by a ministerial committee, which issued a 28-page report after reviewing a series of complaints.
Hamza said the committee recommended they be tried after coming across “(election) violations, fraud and corruption” in the districts which the five suspects headed.
According to the ministerial report, some of the alleged fraud involved “vote buying” on behalf of the Minister of Commerce Salman Ali and his brother Issam.
Full Article: Iraq to try election officials over fraud: judiciary.
