Baghdad, April 29: An Iraqi court on Wednesday acquitted the country’s former trade minister in one of two cases of corruption, almost 11 months after he lost his job in a scandal over food imports that embarrassed the government.
The criminal appeals court in Baghdad’s Rusafa district dismissed charges of squandering public funds brought against the former minister, Abdul Falah al-Sudany, for lack of evidence, said chief judge Muhsin Jaafar.
Another case was still pending, he said. “There are two cases filed. The second one involves the same charge (of squandering public funds) but others are accused alongside him and the case is still under investigation.”
Allegations of kickbacks in the Trade Ministry, which oversees Iraq’s vast public food ration programme and imports huge amounts of wheat, sugar, rice and other foodstuffs, generated a public outcry last year.
Iraq’s corruption watchdog accused officials in the ministry, including two of the minister’s brothers and a nephew, of taking bribes for contracts.
The government ordered a plane carrying Sudany to Jordan to turn back and arrested him in a highly publicised drama.
Sudany was one of nine officials, including the head of the state Grain Board, charged with buying sugar and other foods that were found to be unfit for consumption. A court acquitted the head of the grain board but three other officials in the ministry were jailed in December.
The affair was a blow to Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as he campaigned for a March 7 election, pledging a crackdown on corruption while seeking desperately needed foreign investment and battling a stubborn insurgency. The election has produced no outright winner, creating political uncertainty.
Corruption has become a major problem for Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. In 2008, only Somalia and Myanmar were seen as more corrupt, according to watchdog Transparency International.
The head of the integrity committee in the outgoing parliament, Sabah al-Saedi, said the court acquittal would be appealed by the independent Integrity Commission.
–Agencies