SULAIMANI (ESTA) — An Iraqi court sentenced two people to death over the killing of a teenager who took part in anti-government protests last year, the supreme judicial council said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the judicial council said the two were sentenced to death by hanging at a court in Basra.
The council added that the two people, who were not identified, had “confessed to the murder” of Moujtaba Ahmed.
Ahmed was shot in the head during demonstrations in the southern province of Basra.
For months, tens of thousands of protesters in Baghdad and southern provinces had taken to the streets to rally against the endemic corruption and call for reforms.
More than 600 people died as security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse crowds.
Protesters have largely blamed Iran-backed militia groups for carrying out killings that specifically targeted activists and journalists.
On Monday, the same court sentenced a man to death by hanging for the killing of Dijlah TV reporter Ahmed Abdul Samad and his cameraman Safaa Ghali, who were found dead in a car parked near a police station on January 10, 2020.
Mohammed Samad, brother of the slain reporter, blamed four people for the killing “but only one was brought to court”, AP said.
He also identified the convicted killer as Hamza Kadhim al-Aidani, “a police officer who had worked at the same court that sentenced him today”.
The journalists’ deaths were part of a wave of targeted killings against activists and journalists covering the protest movement that erupted in late October 2019.
