The Court of Cassation has decided today, Monday, to overturn the life imprisonment sentence against defendant Hadeel Khalid Abdul Rashid, known as "Um Al-Lawl." The court affirmed that her confessions were extracted under coercion and torture, and that the witness in the case had prior disputes with the defendant and previously filed a complaint against her in Erbil.
According to the court's decision document sent to the Shafaq News Agency, it stated, "Upon reviewing the case, it was found that the ruling issued in case 659/J/2024 on May 29, 2024, by the Central Criminal Court condemning the defendant (Hadeel Khalid Abdul Rashid) according to the provisions of Article 28/First of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 50 of 2017 and based on the participation articles 49/48/47 of the Penal Code, sentencing her to life imprisonment and a financial penalty of thirty million dinars is incorrect and contrary to the law, as the court issued the aforementioned ruling before completing the necessary legal procedures."
The document further explained, "It is established from the facts of the case and its evidence that the investigative procedures against the defendant were based on the statements of the defendant in a separate case (Qaysar Mahmoud Ahmed), recorded as a witness against the defendant. During the arrest and documentation of her statements, she indicated the existence of prior disputes with the mentioned witness and that she had filed a complaint against him in Erbil’s Asayish. Therefore, the court should have obtained a copy of the referenced investigative papers and reviewed them in relation to this case."
Lawyer Tareq Al-Shar' who manages the case of the accused drug trafficker "Hadeel Al-Samarrai," nicknamed "Um Al-Lawl," revealed on Sunday that the Federal Court of Cassation has annulled all decisions related to the case by the Central Criminal Court. Al-Shar posted on his Facebook account, as followed by the Shafaq News Agency, stating that "the Federal Court of Cassation has annulled all of the Central Criminal Court's decisions regarding the case of defendant Hadeel Khalid, nicknamed Um Al-Lawl, and has ordered a retrial."
Two weeks prior, spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice Ahmed Laibi denied news to the Shafaq News Agency regarding "Um Al-Lawl" fleeing from prison, where she is currently serving her sentence, and also denied a second news report claiming she had committed suicide inside the prison. Laibi confirmed that "Um Al-Lawl" is currently in a women's prison and is in good health.
Recently, social media sites and some local media circulated news about "Um Al-Lawl" escaping from prison, while other sites reported her suicide inside the prison. Security forces had arrested her in May on drug trafficking charges. On May 29, the Rusafa Criminal Court issued a life sentence against Hadeel Khalid Abdul Rashid, branded "Um Al-Lawl," after convicting her of international drug trafficking. In April, the Iraqi judiciary had sentenced "Um Al-Lawl" to four months of simple imprisonment based on Article 403 of the Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, amended for the crime of producing and publishing several images and videos containing obscene and immoral statements.
