Former head of Sunni Endowment escapes from Baghdad's Green Zone prison

Saad Qambash, the former head of Iraq's Sunni Endowment, who was sentenced to four years after being found guilty of corruption, escaped from a police station in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone late on Tuesday.

Qambash was arrested on 21 March and he was sentenced on 11 April to four years in jail according to Article 331 of the Iraqi penal code related to charges of financial and administrative corruption worth more than 45 billion Iraqi dinars (more than US$ 34 million).

 Major General Yahya Rasool, the spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, in a statement, said that Qambash was held at Karadat Maryam police station located inside Baghdad's Green Zone, which is also home of the government, parliament and senior Iraqi officials.

Rasool clarified that on 18 April, Iraqi lawmaker Asma Hamid Qambash, the sister of the escapee, visited the police station to meet with her brother during iftar. 

"At 10:30 PM [Baghdad time] the convict fled from behind the police station with the help of three people and reached two cars that were waiting for him to guarantee his escape to an unknown destination," Rasool said, indicating that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.  

All officers and policemen in charge of the police station have been arrested as per orders from Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al Shammari, who also launched an investigation and intelligence efforts to re-arrest Qambash.

"There is corruption in Al-Karkh police station, and the criminal could escape with the help of some officers at the police station," Sagvan Yousif, deputy head of the security and defence committee in the Iraqi parliament, said to The New Arab. He also said that the committee would form a sub-committee to investigate how the former official ran away. 

Footages from CCTV cameras documenting the runaway process have been posted online.

📌هروب رئيس الوقف السني
من سجن في المنطقة الخضراء!
هذا اعلان حرب ضد حكومة
السيد #محمد_شياع_السوداني
لن تقف هذه الحرب عند العملية
المنظمة لتهريب سعد كمبش!
الأيام بيننا.. والقادم العن وأشد
📌السنية السياسية
تسعى لافشال واخضاع
الحاكمية الشيعية..
هذه حكاية هروب كمبش.#على_شنو_نجاملكم pic.twitter.com/tcaoFVmjFi

— محسَّد جمال الدين (@Mohassad71) April 19, 2023

According to Transparency International's corruption perception index, Iraq has been one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Corrupt officials often escape accountability because of Iraq's ethno-sectarian political power-sharing among the Shia Arabs, Sunni Arabs and the Kurds. 

Iraq's judiciary early last month issued arrest warrants for four former officials who are accused of facilitating the theft of US$2.5 billion in public funds in one of the country's biggest-ever corruption scandals.

The country's current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has vowed to crack down on corruption since his appointment in late October.