On July 20, overnight, followers of the powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr set fire to part of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in retaliation for two protests in Stockholm in which copies of the Koran were desecrated by an Iraqi refugee with a troubled past, Salwan Momika.
Eighteen members of the Iraqi police were sentenced on Tuesday to serve sentences of up to three years in prison for failing to prevent protesters from storming and setting fire to the Swedish embassy in the Iraqi capital in July, two AFP sources in the Iraqi government said.
On July 20, overnight, followers of the powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr set fire to part of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in retaliation for two protests in Stockholm in which copies of the Koran were desecrated by an Iraqi refugee with a troubled past, Salwan Momika.
On Tuesday, a court of the internal security forces in Baghdad found 18 police officers guilty of dereliction of duty for allowing protesters to storm the embassy and set fire to its section, according to a copy of the verdict seen by AFP and confirmed to be authentic senior Home Office official present at the hearing.
Those convicted have the right to appeal, according to the same source.
A second senior interior ministry official confirmed, on condition of anonymity, the convictions of the 18 police officers.
Eight police officers will serve three years in prison, seven two years and three months, three others a year and a half.
Some of these police officers will be permanently and irrevocably dismissed from their service, upon the verdict. The convicts belong to various directorates, notably the Baghdad police and the one tasked with protecting embassies and diplomats.
The desecrations of the Koran, which took place repeatedly this summer in Sweden and Denmark, triggered a wave of international outrage and tensions between the two Nordic states and Muslim countries in the Middle East.
Baghdad announced in July that it was expelling the Swedish ambassador, accusing authorities in Stockholm of giving police permission for repeated gatherings of this nature.
The Swedish government condemned the desecration of the Koran, but underlined at the same time that the freedoms of speech and public assembly are inviolable on the territory of the Scandinavian country.
Meanwhile in Stockholm, Salwan Momika presented himself at a Swedish police station on Tuesday as part of proceedings following an extradition request by Iraqi authorities, who are seeking his repatriation to stand trial in an Iraqi court.
Source :Skai
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