BAGHDAD — Every now and then, Iraqi political and media figures leak official documents from various government departments to satellite channels such as Al-Baghdadia TV and Al-Sharqiya TV, social networking sites and digital newspapers such as Al-Masalah and Al-Ghad.

Some of these documents are authentic, as employees succeed in taking pictures of them while working in government institutions. They are then sold to be published in the media. On Nov. 1, documents were leaked about officials and the governor of Dhi Qar province squandering money. According to the Dhi Qarna website, the leak was the result of a political conflict between the legislative and executive authorities in the province about government positions.

However, there are also fabricated documents, forged for the purpose of defaming an individual, government department or political party. According to a news report published by the Iraqi Media House on July 21, the WikiLeaks documents concerning the relationship between Iraqi politicians and the Saudi government were falsified.

On Oct. 13, another document was leaked from the Iraqi Health Ministry about the involvement of former Health Minister Saleh al-Hasnawi in corruption cases.