Wasit court jails man for six years in 'sorcery' exploitation case

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A criminal court in Wasit province sentenced a man to six years in prison and fined him 20 million dinars after convicting him of exploiting women by claiming to practice sorcery, security sources said on Monday. According to the sources, the Wasit Felony Court found the defendant guilty of deceiving women with claims he could use "black magic" to bring back divorced spouses and reconcile lovers. The court applied Article 6 of the 2012 Anti-Human Trafficking Law, No. 28, together with the relevant provisions of the amended Iraqi Penal Code, Law No. 111 of 1969. A security source said the man had used so-called lower forms of sorcery to manipulate the women and exploit them financially. The case was heard in the provincial capital of Wasit. The ruling was issued as part of legal proceedings targeting practices that exploit women in the province, the source added. No further details were immediately available.