Iraq issues arrest warrants for Sadrist leaders after judiciary storming
The Iraqi judiciary issued arrest warrants and travel bans against key Sadrist movement leaders amid violent political conflicts, but their enforcement could be a sensitive task.
Arrest warrants have been issued for a number of Sadrist leaders after supporters of top Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the judiciary's headquarters in Baghdad last week.
The Karkh Investigation Court in Baghdad issued Aug. 23 an arrest warrant for Sabah Al-Saadi for the crime of threatening the Iraqi judiciary, along with other arrest warrants for senior aides to Sadr.
The move was denounced in a sit-in by Sadr’s followers in front of the headquarters of the Supreme Judicial Council in the Green Zone. The protesters withdrew later that day on Sadr’s demand.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and political forces condemned the sit-in. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi cut short his visit to Egypt, warned against disrupting the work of the judicial institution and called for dialogue.
