Iraq: murder in the middle of the street of a local official arouses indignation of the population
Prime Minister al-Kazimi during his visit to Kerbala on August 11, 2021. AFP - -
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The murder by bullets in the middle of the street of a municipal official in the Iraqi city of Kerbala on Wednesday aroused the indignation of Iraqis who castigated "the impunity" of the assassins and the Prime Minister's inaction vis-à-vis the "assassins".
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The victim, Abir Selim, was director of municipal services in Kerbala, a Shiite holy city south of Baghdad.
He was killed on Tuesday while "
carrying out his duty to eliminate abuses on the public highway
" by supervising the census of illegal constructions, the office of Prime Minister Moustafa al-Kazimi said in a statement. .
On a video recorded by a surveillance camera and broadcast on social networks, we see a man dressed in a white "dishdasha" - a male dress - shooting at close range in the middle of the street on the municipal official, who collapses.
The alleged murderer was arrested shortly after the fact.
"
The killers and the criminals will not escape the punishment
" because "
nobody is above the law
", reacted Moustafa al-Kazimi who went to Kerbala on Wednesday to offer his condolences to the family of the victim .
He then went to the scene of the crime, where he lectured on the alleged murderer who was previously blindfolded by law enforcement, according to photos of the confrontation released by the government.
The population outraged by the "impunity" that reigns in Iraq
But these gestures did not convince militants and ordinary Iraqis, exasperated by "the impunity", which, according to them, the assassins enjoy. Since the start of the unprecedented popular uprising in October 2019, more than 70 activists have been victims of assassinations or attempted assassinations, while dozens of others have been kidnapped briefly.
No one claimed responsibility for these attacks, but pro-democracy activists are convinced that the killers are known to the security services and are not arrested despite government promises,
because they are linked to Iran
, the powerful neighbor operating in Iraq.
In Iraq, small arms (pistols, rifles, machine guns, etc.) circulate widely among the civilian population.
According to the Small arms survey, in 2017 there were 7.6 million small arms for 39 million inhabitants, of which 40% are under 14 years old.
And surely a lot more, undeclared.
(
with
AFP)
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