The Ministry of Justice denied, on Sunday, that secret executions were carried out inside Al-Hout prison.
The official spokesman for the ministry, Ahmed Laibi Abdul Hussein, said in a statement received by “Al-Rasheed”, that “there is no truth to the ministry carrying out secret executions in Al-Hout prison, and the ministry will sue the website that published this misleading news”, expressing “the ministry’s denunciation of such statements and news that serve clear parties and purposes.”
He pointed out that “the ministry completely denies the misleading accusations contained therein, which aim to mislead domestic and international public opinion and distort the facts for political purposes.”
He added, “The website should have requested a statement or clarification from the ministry regarding these allegations instead of publishing whatever it wants without verifying with the competent authority,” indicating that “the Iraqi Ministry of Justice adheres to the constitution and human rights standards in all its procedures.”
Al-Laibi explained that “the Prime Minister is following up on the field the efforts made to promote human rights principles within the correctional departments, and is keen to apply international humanitarian standards in dealing with inmates, and personally supervises the plan to reform the correctional departments and improve the conditions of inmates,” stressing “his categorical denial of what was attributed to the Prime Minister in the news published by the website.”
He added, “The ministry will take legal action against the site and will sue any sites that publish misleading news of this kind,” calling on “the professional national media to be objective and accurate in reporting news, and that the ministry’s doors are open to any press inquiries.”