Iraqi courts sentence drug trafficker in Dhi Qar, impose death penalty in Najaf

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi courts in Dhi Qar and Najaf provinces announced separate verdicts in two criminal cases, security sources said Wednesday. In Nasiriya, the capital of Dhi Qar, the Dhi Qar Felony Court sentenced a drug trafficker to 15 years in prison for attempting to introduce crystal narcotics into the province. The ruling was issued under Article 28 of Law No. 50 of 2017 on Combating Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances. On the same day, the Najaf Felony Court handed down a death sentence to a defendant convicted of killing a citizen following a dispute at a kebab shop in the city center. The court ordered the defendant to be hanged under Article 406 of the amended Iraqi Penal Code, Law No. 111 of 1969. Both decisions were made public by security sources on Wednesday. No further details were immediately available.