Hadi Amiri's reference to 2019 Iraq protests as 'sedition' reignites accountability debate

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A speech by Badr Organization leader Hadi Amiri describing the 2019 Tishreen protests as "sedition" has revived calls to investigate the role of armed groups in the demonstrations, in which hundreds of Iraqis were killed. Speaking at a memorial for the late Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, Amiri said "the resistance" had protected the state and political system against that "sedition," comments that families of the dead and lawyers said reopen the long-unresolved question of who is responsible for protester deaths. Lawyer Hazim Mazin al-Badri said he has filed a criminal complaint against Amiri with the Wasit Public Prosecution, while victims' relatives and legal figures urged the Supreme Judicial Council and the chief prosecutor to open formal investigations into the conduct of armed factions during the 2019 demonstrations. Ali al-Dahhamat, the brother of civilian activist Amjad al-Dahhamat, who was killed in Maysan on November 6, 2019, said Amiri's earlier remarks seen as threats against the judiciary were never followed up and that legal proceedings should now be initiated. Abdulhussein al-Zalimi, a Badr Organization official, defended Amiri, saying his remarks targeted not peaceful protesters but those who later "derailed the popular movement and injected foreign agendas." No further details on any prosecutorial action were immediately available.