Shafaq News- Babil

A court in Iraq’s Babil province ordered the release of provincial council member Mohammed Al-Mansouri and activist Qasim Hammadi on Sunday, a source told Shafaq News.

The source said Al-Mansouri’s release followed Governor Ali Turki Al-Jamali’s withdrawal of his complaint against him.

On October 26, an informed source told Shafaq News that the Hilla Misdemeanor Court had sentenced Al-Mansouri to two four-month prison terms, totaling eight months, under Article 226 of Iraq’s Penal Code. Al-Jamali was the complainant in one of the cases. The article criminalizes public insults against state institutions and public authorities.

Their imprisonment prompted protests in Al-Qasim on October 27, when demonstrators blocked the road linking Babil and Diwaniyah provinces and burned tires, a security source told Shafaq News at the time.