Shafaq News – Damascus

The Syrian Foreign Ministry is pursuing the case of a Syrian citizen sentenced to death by an Iraqi court in Najaf province, a ministry source told Shafaq News on Tuesday.

The source explained that the ministry is monitoring Mohammad Suleiman’s situation through the Syrian Embassy in Baghdad, in coordination with Iraq’s Foreign Ministry under existing detainee exchange agreements.

According to Suleiman’s family, he and his brother were detained in Iraq in March 2025, but only his brother was later released. The family recounted that investigators found images of Syrian transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa and footage of Free Syrian Army fighters capturing members of Iraq’s Harakat al-Nujaba group on his phone—evidence that reportedly led to charges of online incitement.

In a statement, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council denied reports claiming Suleiman was sentenced to death for allegedly glorifying Syria’s transitional president or storing Free Syrian Army-related content.

The Council explained that the verdict followed Suleiman’s confession to praising former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and inciting violence against Iraqi army and Popular Mobilization Forces personnel, noting that he also burned a picture of Imam Ali “with the intent to provoke sectarian tension.” It added that the ruling remains subject to automatic appeal before Iraq’s Federal Court of Cassation.