Iraq court issues death sentence to al-Hashimi’s killer
A police officer involved in the murder of the prominent academic and security expert has been sentenced to death.
An Iraqi court has sentenced a police officer, Ahmed Hamdawi Oueid al-Kenani, to death.
A court in Baghdad on Sunday handed down a death sentence against al-Kenani under Iraqi anti-terrorism laws, the judicial authority said in a statement.
Al-Hashimi, a prominent academic and government adviser who was an expert on Sunni armed groups such as ISIL (ISIS) operating in Iraq and who maintained close contacts with top Iraqi decision-makers, was shot dead outside his home in July 2020 by four men on two motorcycles.
Al-Hashimi had also spoken out against powerful Shia armed actors linked to Iran, drawing the ire of Tehran-backed Shia factions in the Iraqi paramilitary network Hashd al-Shaabi.
The Hashd has the second largest block in the Iraqi parliament and controls huge financial assets.
Al-Hashimi’s death and al-Kenani’s arrest
Reported security footage from a camera near al-Hashimi’s home on July 6, 2020, showed a masked gunman approaching his white SUV and firing several gunshots through the driver’s window.
When the assassin escaped, al-Hashimi’s three young boys were seen helping neighbors pull his bullet-riddled body from the car.
Just over a year later, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced that suspects in the assassination of his adviser had been arrested.
Iraqi state television then aired a video of al-Kenani wearing brown overalls and saying he was leading the group that killed al-Hashimi.
Surveillance footage of the attack appeared on state television, which seemed to confirm this.
After the arrest, al-Kadhimi said on Twitter: “We promised to capture Husham Alhashimi’s killers. We have fulfilled that promise.”
Al Rassafa Criminal Court sentences death to Interior Ministry officer “Ahmed Hamdawi Ouaid”, murderer of security expert Hisham Al-Hashimi according to Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law (No. 13 for 2005) after 10 postponement of decision. pic.twitter.com/7cYAAH3fQ3
— dr. Ali Al Bayati | د. علي البياتي (@aliakramalbayat) May 7, 2023
Media were denied access to the court on Sunday, but a lawyer who attended the hearing said al-Kenani said nothing in response to the judge’s ruling.
He can appeal the sentence, said a spokesman for the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council in Baghdad.
In 2020, government officials described al-Hashimi’s death as a targeted killing, but did not accuse any group in particular.
Paramilitary officials affiliated with Iran denied any role in the assassination and no organization has claimed to have committed the assassination.