Iraqi police arrest second person for sorcery in Mosul within 24 hours

MOSUL, Iraq — An Organized Crime Directorate team operating under Iraqi authorities arrested a man at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Mosul as he traveled from Baghdad, a Nineveh Province security source said. The suspect, identified as a Baghdad resident, was apprehended in the Zahra neighborhood of eastern Mosul. A Mosul investigative judge ordered the man detained under Article 456 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which covers sorcery-related offenses, according to the same source. No further details on the suspect or the alleged acts were immediately available. The arrest comes a day after a separate sorcery case in the city, in which another person was detained and sentenced to one year in prison, the source added. Separately, the Nineveh National Security Service said it had detained a person the previous day in Qayyarah, south of Mosul. Security agencies said operations targeting individuals accused of exploiting residents would continue.