The Supreme Religious Authority condemned the kidnapping and assassination incidents in some areas of Iraq, including the brutal incident of al-Wathba Square in Baghdad yesterday, saying killing, kidnapping, mutilating bodies and hanging them are crimes which their perpetrators should be trialed for.

The Grand Ayatollah Sistani issued a statement today regarding recent events and developments in Iraq, declaring important insights. The statement, which was read by Hojjat al-Islam Ahmed Safi in today’s Friday sermons in Karbala reads:

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful

Previous days were the second anniversary of declaring victory over the ISIS terrorist group in such a great historical battle that the Iraqis took part and did great to liberate large parts of their country occupied by the terrorist group. In this way, for three years they dedicated tens of thousands of martyrs, injured and wounded, creating a heroic era in Iraqi history with dignity and pride, drawing the most beautiful images of heroism and sacrifice in defense of their land.

In this great occasion, which is at the heart of all Iraqis, we commemorate the martyrs and their families who defended their homeland with their pure blood and attained the highest degrees of dignity and respect. We also honor our most sincere respects for the wounded and disabled loved ones and the heroic fighters, many of whom continue to uphold their values and fight the remnants of terrorists with the utmost courage.
Today, we emphasize once more on the need of organizing the Iraqi army and other armed forces of the country on the basis of strong professional principles in such a way that they would be loyal to the homeland and rise up to defend it against any foreign aggression and protect its political system, which is derived from constitutional and legal frameworks.

We also emphasize the need to improve the living condition of the liberated areas, rebuilding them and providing the status for returning displaced people back to their homes with dignity and respect.

Dear Iraqi people

Today, there is another fateful battle in front of you, that is the battle of “reforms” and struggle to bring an end to the long period of corruption and failure in administering state affairs. Two years ago the supreme religious authority has emphasized on this issue and it is obvious that the major term for achieving the victory is following peaceful procedures.

The painful events occurred last week in Al-Sanak region and other brutal incidents including terror and kidnap, once more show the importance of reiterated invitation of religious authority to make the accessibility of the weapon restricted in the hands of government and prohibition of existing any armed group beyond this framework.

We thus condemn strongly murder, kidnapping and any other assault, including the brutal incident of al-Wathba Square in Baghdad yesterday, and we call on related factions to take responsibility for identification and punishment of those who committed such crimes. We warn about the consequences of repeating such crimes on the security and stability of the country and the peaceful demonstrations. We emphasize that the judiciary must be the fair reference of all the crimes and violations and the punishment must be occurred via legal procedures. But mutilating bodies and hanging the corpses are obvious crimes that the punishment of their perpetrators is obligatory.