Baghdad, Nov 23 (IANS) An Iraqi court Sunday sentenced a former Sunni lawmaker to death on a criminal charge, an official said.
“The Central Criminal Court issued today a verdict of death penalty for the former parliament member Ahmad al-Alwani in accordance with the Iraqi Penal Code,” Xinhua quoted Abdul-Sattar al-Biraqdar, spokesperson of the judicial authority, as saying in a statement.
The defendant has the right to appeal before the verdict is sent to the presidency for approval, al-Biraqdar said.
Last December, Iraqi security forces carried out a raid on the house of Alwani and arrested him. During the operation, the forces exchanged fire with his guards who resisted the arrest and argued that the operation was illegal as lawmakers enjoy immunity under the constitution.
The clashes resulted in the killing of five people, including Alwani’s brother, and the wounding of 17 others.
Alwani’s capture inflamed anger among the Sunni Muslims and sparked a wave of violence in the Sunni heartland of Anbar, which later developed into large-scale clashes with the Shia-dominated security forces in Sunni provinces across Iraq.
Alwani was one of the outspoken leading figures in the anti-government protests.