Najaf cleric rejects corruption leniency tied to fund recovery

Shafaq News- Najaf

Najaf's Friday prayer leader, Sadr al-Din al-Qubanji, on Friday rejected proposals to ease judicial measures against corruption suspects in exchange for returning stolen public funds, warning that such a policy would encourage further corruption.

Speaking during Friday prayers, al-Qubanji said Iraqis had welcomed the government's Dawn Crackdown (Sawlat Al-Fajr) anti-corruption campaign with optimism, but proposals to pardon those involved in corruption cases after they repaid stolen money had raised concerns. "Such a project would explicitly encourage theft to happen again," he said, calling on Iraq's judiciary to deal with corruption cases "with complete justice and firmness."

al-Qubanji also urged authorities to ensure corruption investigations remain free from domestic or external pressure, stressing that everyone implicated should be subject to the government's anti-corruption campaign. 

Earlier today, Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council announced it was coordinating with the Prime Minister's Office on a legal and constitutional framework that would ease judicial measures against suspects in financial and administrative corruption cases if they voluntarily returned stolen public funds.