Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09HILLAH8
2009-01-27 09:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Hillah
Cable title:  

QAIS MURDER TRIAL: CONTINUED DELAYS POINT TO POSSIBLE

Tags:  KJUS PGOV KCOR IZ 
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P R 270938Z JAN 09
FM REO HILLAH
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1139
INFO IRAQ COLLECTIVE
REO HILLAH 1212
C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000008 


E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/27/2019
TAGS: KJUS PGOV KCOR IZ
SUBJECT: QAIS MURDER TRIAL: CONTINUED DELAYS POINT TO POSSIBLE
CORRUPTION

CLASSIFIED BY: Kenneth Hillas, Team Leader, Babil PRT, Dept of
State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000008


E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/27/2019
TAGS: KJUS PGOV KCOR IZ
SUBJECT: QAIS MURDER TRIAL: CONTINUED DELAYS POINT TO POSSIBLE
CORRUPTION

CLASSIFIED BY: Kenneth Hillas, Team Leader, Babil PRT, Dept of
State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)


1. (SBU) The trial of three defendants accused of the December
2007 murder of former Babil Chief of Police (PDoP) MG Qais
Al-Mamoury has been delayed four times over the last three
months, since the trial venue was transferred from Babil to
Baghdad in October. Gen Al-Mamoury's brother, Safa Al-Mamoury
heads an independent slate of candidates running in the January
31 provincial elections, and met January 15 with the PRT Leader.
He believes that sectarian political leaders in Babil had his
brother murdered and are behind the trial delays, but he has
been reluctant to make specific accusations. MG Al-Mamoury was
famously independent and secular and had a troubled relationship
with Governor Salim (ISCI). The trial venue was transferred to
Baghdad's Central Criminal Court as a result of "political
pressure" that Babil Central Criminal Court Judge Diya said had
been brought to bear on the Al-Hillah court.


2. (SBU) According to both Safa Al-Mamoury and a reporter
working for the independent legal journal Al-Meezan, the Iraqi
Central Criminal Court in Kharq on four occasions (twice in
November, once in December and again in January) had to
reschedule the trial because the police failed to produce the
defendants, who have been held in Rusafa detention center.
Al-Meezan is preparing an investigative report that prompted the
Ministry of Justice to issue a statement recently on its website
denying its responsibility for the trial delays.


3. (C) This week MOJ officials told Al-Meezan and the Al-Mamoury
family that it had intervened with the police to avoid further
delays. The trial was reportedly postponed once when one of the
three defendants claimed to be ill. On another occasion the
police escort/transport unit reportedly was unable to
distinguish one defendant from another similarly named detainee
in the detention center. Al-Meezan and the Al-Mamoury family
suspect corruption. According to Al-Meezan, one of the
policeman responsible for transferring the defendants to the
Kharq court now drives a foreign (NFI) 2009 model car.


4. (C) Comment: A trial before the January 31 Provincial
Council election would have highlighted at a politically
inopportune time the assassination of General Qais, which is
widely believed to have been carried out at the direction of
ISCI's Badr militia. It could also have given a boost to the
candidacy of Safa Al-Mamoury, who has not run a strong campaign
and whose one claim to popular support is that he shares the
Al-Mamoury name.

HILLAS