Iraq ex-minister's minor fine in graft case sparks anger

A former Iraqi electricity minister found guilty of wrongfully awarding a multi-million-dollar contract was only handed a minor fine, an anti-fraud body revealed Thursday, sparking a public outcry.

Louay al-Khatib was given a one-year suspended sentence and fined one million Iraqi dinars (around $685) by a Baghdad court earlier this month, according to the charge sheet seen by AFP.

Three officials from the ministry were also sentenced.

Iraq's commission for transparency, which oversees corruption cases, said the four were convicted of having committed "deliberate irregularities" by awarding a $808 million contract to a company without proper credentials.

The contract called for the "rehabilitation, management and maintenance" of a Baghdad power station, the commission said.

But the firm, which was not named, "is not specialised in the maintenance and rehabilitation" of power stations, it said.

When news broke out of the sentence, Iraqis vented their frustration and anger at what they perceive to be rampant corruption in the oil rich country.

الحكم على وزير الكهرباء الأسبق "لؤي الخطيب" مع 3 مسؤولين في الوزارة "بالحبس البسيط"👉 وغرامة مالية لإرتكابهم مخالفات في عقد بقيمة 800 مليون دولار ‼️والله قضاء 🤥 هذا لو موظف عادي ماخذ 500دينار چان هسى اعدام بس الي ياخذ ملايين الدولارات يصير مدلل كلاب اهل النار pic.twitter.com/yDXgf8zdZJ

— محمد العراقي‏ Mohammed Aliraqy (@Mohammd_Aliraqy) April 21, 2022

النزاهة : الحكم على وزير الكهرباء الأسبق " لؤي الخطيب " وعدداً من المسؤولين في الوزارة بالحبس البسيط وفرض غرامة مالية لإرتكابهم مخالفات في عقد بقيمة 800 مليون دولار
شدعوى هل الظلم يالقضاء العراقي pic.twitter.com/PD6ESTkuiQ

— اࠗلحٟليަ 🥀💭 ، (@jasem198661) April 21, 2022

⭕️
هيئة النزاهة تحكم على المدان لؤي الخطيب وزير الكهرباء الاسبق بالسجن 6 أشهر مع أيقاف التنفيذ بتهمة عقد بقيمة 808 مليون دولا أي مايعادل ترليون ومائتين مليون دينار عراقي .

وتكولون ماعدنة حكومة تحاسب السراق الرجل نحكم 6 أشهر مع ايقاف التنفيذ . #عاش_القانون
. pic.twitter.com/5k76fHLI3U

— ‎﮼محمدألخطاب (@alkatab83) April 21, 2022

"This is a reward... not a sentence for corruption", Mustafa Saadoun, the head of the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, wrote on Twitter.

Kurdish political analyst Shajo al-Kara Daghi agreed.

"Are these real and dissuasive sentences aimed at fighting against corruption and the corrupt?" Daghi wrote on Twitter. "Or is it a bid to encourage corruption, fraud and illicit gains?"

Iraq has consistently ranked low on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, coming in 157th out of 180 countries for perceived corruption levels in state institutions last year.

In 2019, Iraq was rocked by massive protests fuelled by charges of widespread official corruption, incompetence and economic hardships.

Despite being rich in oil and gas, Iraq's electricity infrastructure has suffered from years of negligence and war, and faces regular power cuts.

The sector has been also riddled with allegations of corruption.

In January a senior official at the electricity ministry was sentenced to six years in prison in a case involving bribes.