Iraqi MP released on bail following voluntary testimony

Shafaq News- Baghdad

An Iraqi court on Thursday ordered the release of MP Mustafa Sanad on bail after he appeared voluntarily before investigators in a complaint filed by fellow lawmaker Bahaa al-Araji over a physical altercation case inside parliament.

Sanad, a member of the Shiite bloc Abshir Ya Iraq, confirmed that he had waived his parliamentary immunity, noting that lawmakers had not moved to lift it, amid parallel efforts to resolve the dispute through political channels.

He added that reconciliation efforts had been underway for about a month, involving Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi, First Deputy Speaker Adnan Fayhan al-Dulaimi, and several bloc leaders. Those efforts did not lead to a settlement, a position Sanad linked to members of the Reconstruction and Development coalition and its leader, caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Sanad also presented evidence and witnesses during the court session, arguing that al-Araji had previously directed verbal insults at him during a television appearance and had repeated similar remarks during the same parliamentary session in which the confrontation occurred.