Former Interior Minister Othman al-Ghanimi summoned over a state land plot in Diwaniyah (2023)

On 25 January 2023 the Integrity Commission said the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court had decided to summon the former interior minister, Othman al-Ghanimi, together with three members of an inspection committee, under Article 331 of the Penal Code. The Commission said he had put an inaccurate joint inspection report before an extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers to obtain an exemption from the rules on selling and leasing state property, in order to acquire a plot of 2,880 square metres in Diwaniyah for his own benefit. It said the report of the Diwaniyah real estate registration, urban planning and municipal departments showed that his report was not correct. Al-Ghanimi replied the same day that the matter concerned the former divisional commander's house in Diwaniyah, which he had bought at public auction, and the land between it and the main road. He said the Council of Ministers had approved his request, that ownership had not been transferred and that the transaction was still with the Ministry of Finance. In March 2023 the Commission invited him to give evidence, as an informant, on corruption files he had mentioned on television.