Two sentenced to 10 years in Dhi Qar for impersonating Iraq's top judicial adviser

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two people who impersonated an adviser to the head of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council have been sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Dhi Qar Felony Court, the council said in a statement. The court ruled on Sunday that the defendants used the false title to extract money from a citizen in exchange for misleading promises that the man's brother, who had been convicted in a drug case, would be released. According to the council, the sentencing was issued under Article 1 of Decision No. 160 of 1983, along with subsequent amendments to that article, and Articles 47, 48 and 49 of the same decision. The ruling marks a criminal conviction for the misuse of the judicial council president's name and the leveraging of that identity to obtain payments through false assurances in a criminal matter. The case has been cited as evidence of the judiciary's response to the misuse of the head of the Supreme Judicial Council's identity. No further details on the defendants or the victim were immediately available.