Iraqi Interior Minister changes judicial rulings against officers involved in Swedish embassy burning

Shafaq News/ Iraq's Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari has decided to modify the punitive measures initially imposed on officers in charge of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, a security source revealed on Wednesday.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that Minister al-Shammari took this decision following appeals of the families of the officers who were found guilty of failing to prevent protesters from setting fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in July over a planned Koran burning in Stockholm.

"The minister revoked their dismissal from service and opted for a reduced sentence of simple imprisonment," the source explained.

On September 19, Baghdad court passed sentences, ranging from 18 months to three years, against 18 officers.

Responding to these measures, the families of the officers in question conveyed their grievances to Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement. Al-Sadr's response, according to sources, "this is the government of Banu Abbas. They have no afffimi to the Koran and [Islamic] doctrine."