Al-Azm leader Al-Samarrai jailed six years for corruption

Shafaq News- Baghdad

An Iraqi court on Thursday sentenced lawmaker Muthanna Al-Samarrai, leader of the Al-Azm Alliance, to six years in prison for profiting from contracts with the state-owned North and South Refineries companies, Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity said in a statement.

The court also ordered Al-Samarrai to repay 30 billion dinars (about $19.7 million) he made from brokering contracts for the two companies.

Al-Samarrai was arrested on June 28, 2026, in a sweep of current and former lawmakers and officials over corruption allegations, known as the "Dawn Crackdown." His case is linked to former Oil Ministry undersecretary Adnan Al-Jumaili, whose testimony reportedly led to many of the campaign's arrests, and to suspicions of exploiting state resources and government contracts in return for commissions and personal gain.

His trial had been postponed to Thursday after three of six listed witnesses told the court they had no connection to the case.

Separately, the court sentenced lawmaker Ziyad Al-Janabi, a former chair of parliament's Integrity Committee who was also arrested on June 28, to five years in prison and ordered him to repay 4 billion dinars (about $2.6 million) gained from North Refineries Company contracts.