BAGHDAD: Iraq’s anti-corruption agency said on Wednesday the justice minister had been given a court summons after he was accused of blocking a graft probe by refusing to hand over documents.
A probe began last month into “suspicions of corruption” in the delivery of prison meals, with “poor quality” and limited food provided compared to the payments made.
On Tuesday, Judge Haider Hanoun, who heads the government’s anti-corruption agency, accused Minister of Justice Khaled Shawani of “using his power to hinder the work” of investigators.
Hanoun said documents he had demanded from Shawani “incriminated” the suspects.
On Wednesday, Shawani and a senior ministry official were given a court summons “for having refused to provide documents required,” the agency said in a statement.
Shawani, speaking about the corruption allegations on Tuesday after a prison inspection, had accused the companies of “not delivering” all the food orders despite having received payment.
He also spoke about a committee monitoring food distribution in jails, to block sale of provisions that should be supplied for free to inmates to “protect prisoners from extortion.”
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who took power in October, has made regular speeches about his determination to fight graft. In Iraq, an oil-rich country ravaged by endemic graft, the elite have routinely evaded accountability in corruption cases.
The UN envoy to Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said last month that “pervasive and systemic corruption is one of the biggest challenges” facing the country.
