The Iraqi judiciary acquitted and released the murderer of prominent researcher and security expert Hisham al-Hashimi last week.
Spokeswoman for the judiciary Sinan Ghanem told Asharq Al-Awsat that a court had acquitted Ahmed Hamdawi al-Kinani due to a “lack of evidence.”
The court’s decision came after the case was reopened last Wednesday, and al-Kinani was released Sunday, said an official with one of the country's Iran-backed militias.
Al-Kinani, accused of murdering al-Hashimi, was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to death by a criminal court last May, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council reported. The case later moved to an appeals court for further review.
Al-Hashimi, 47, was fatally shot outside his Baghdad home by motorcycle-riding assailants in July 2020, following threats from Iran-backed militias. He was on his way home after conducting a TV interview in which he criticized the armed groups’ attacks on diplomatic missions.
Renowned for his expertise on the ISIS group, al-Hashimi had advised the US-led coalition and became a vocal critic of Iran-backed militias after the defeat of the ISIS group in December 2017. He had reported multiple threats from these groups before his death.
A judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Kinani denied before the appeals judge ever committing the crime.
Iraqi security authorities had released al-Kinani's confessions on July 16, 2020, ten days after the crime took place.
He confessed to having plotted and carried out the crime along with several other people who had monitored al-Hashimi's movements.
Al-Hashimi was parking his car after returning from a television interview when a motorist got off his motorcycle, walked towards him and shot him dead.
In a video confession, al-Kinani said he drew his police-issued gun and killed al-Hashimi in front of his house.
The security authorities released photos of the weapon and its registration number, as well as the bullet that killed al-Hashimi.
Activists questioned how the authorities could have released al-Kinani while they have the murder weapon and his verified confessions.
An Iraqi lawyer told Asharq Al-Awsat that appeals courts do not consider videos as enough evidence for conviction. They need something tangible like a confession and witnesses to confirm a ruling.
Judicial authorities usually release statements to the media about their ruling a week after they are made, but they did not in the case of al-Kinani's acquittal.
Conviction to acquittal
How did we get here? Al-Hashimi was known for his expertise in extremist groups and has helped government authorities dismantle ISIS’ structure during the liberation battles.
Many of his friends believe that his criticism of pro-Iran armed factions in the months ahead of his killing sealed his fate.
Extremist supporters of ISIS and backers of the Shiite factions celebrated his murder.
Al-Kinani's case started with arrest, his death sentence in absentia, an appeal against the ruling, followed by a retrial and culminating in his acquittal.
Legal experts believe that a court decision in summer 2023 to annul a committee formed by former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi that was dedicated to pursuing “extraordinary crimes” was a turning point in al-Kinani's case.
The committee was headed by Ahmed Abou Ragheef and was tasked with carrying out arrests against suspects involved in corruption and “major” cases, including al-Hashimi's.
The committee carried out a wave of arrests against officials accused of corruption, drawing a wave of criticism among political circles.
The committee had referred al-Kinani's case to the central court in al-Rasafa, which then sentenced him to death in absentia in May 2023.
On July 31, the Federal Court of Cassation, headed by Faiq Zeidan, overruled the death sentence and returned the case to the Rasafa court so that it could go ahead with the investigation procedures “according to laws and regulations.”
Following that, al-Kinani did not appear at any of the ensuing trials, revealed trusted sources. Whether he was even held in prison or not was a mystery. Several rumors circulated that he had escaped or was smuggled out. None of the claims could be verified.
Several politicians and journalists have said that al-Kinani had “disappeared completely” since October 2022 which was when the pro-Iran Coordination Framework formed the current government headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
The Court of Cassation’s ruling returned al-Kinani's case back to square one, leading to his acquittal due to a lack of evidence.
An Iraqi judicial source said the acquittal does not necessarily mean that the case will be completely shut. The ruling against al-Kinani or others can be appealed within two years if new evidence in the case emerges.
Back to work
Users on Facebook revealed that the al-Kinana tribe celebrated al-Kinani's release. News then emerged that he had returned to his government job “as usual”.
A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Kinani resumed his work at the Interior Ministry. Another source confirmed that he returned to the engineering directorate there.
Officials at the Ministry did not reply to Asharq Al-Awsat when asked about whether al-Kinani had returned to his post. An Iraqi officer said however, that it was normal for an employee to return after being acquitted.
Born in 1985, al-Kinani joined the police in 2007. He graduated from Amman, Jordan where Iraq was sending its security forces recruits as a safety precaution because the Iraqi training centers were targets of attacks at the time.
Al-Hashimi's family
Asharq Al-Awsat attempted to contact al-Hashimi's family after al-Kinani's release. A close associate of the family told Asharq Al-Awsat that it would rather stay away from the spotlight.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the security and judicial authorities had informed the family of the acquittal and asked them if they would want to take a legal position in the case, but they refused out of fear of reprisals.
He denied that the family had agreed to a financial settlement in the case and said it objected to how the case has been handled.
It would now like to dedicate itself to raising al-Hashimi children and avoid a confrontation with the party that plotted and carried out his murder, continued the source.
A member of the State Administration Coalition told Asharq Al-Awsat that the concerned Shiite political forces do not expect the public to react angrily to al-Kinani's release.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he explained that the forces in power have succeeded in recent months in “neutralizing all sources of concern in the Iraqi street.”
Independent MP Sajjad Salem told Asharq Al-Awsat that this is the fourth case in which a killer is acquitted of a crime whose victims have been protesters, activists and researchers.
The forces in power have succeeded in completely defusing these cases, he stressed.
He revealed that he has submitted a draft law to try the killers and bring justice to the families of the victims. He had approached the government over the issue, but he ruled out the possibility of a breakthrough.
He said the Coordination Framework has managed to consolidate its power firmly in state institutions, leaving little room for any breakthrough in the future.
