A wiretapping network was busted on Tuesday at the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
The network included employees and officers specialized in cyber security.
In a post on the X platform, MP Mustafa Sanad said the Karakh court, which is specialized in terrorism cases, arrested the network at the government office. Mohammed Juhi, aide to the PM’s media director, was among the detainees.
The network was listening in on the telephones of MPs and politicians. It was also controlling electronic armies, fabricating fake news and assuming the identity of politicians and businessmen, he added.
He identified Juhi as the leader of the network.
The network confessed to its crimes before the judiciary.
Sanad revealed that “pressure has been exerted to release them, but the judge handling the case has not yielded.”
Lawmakers who were targeted by the network have also filed complaints against the detainees, he added.
In remarks to the media, Sanad gave an example of how the network operated. He said a fake telephone number was used to contact lawmakers or pressure them to vote in favor of draft laws or sensitive files, such as the nomination of candidates to parliament.
A national security officer helped in wiretapping and in extorting MPs, he went on to say.
