WHAT HAPPENED

On January 18th 2008, a group of militants had a clash with Iraqi forces. This group was thought to be the Ansars led by Sayyed Ahmed Alhasan. However, that was not the truth.

Due to their religious beliefs which do not align with the personal beliefs of the Iraqi authorities (even though legally permissible there), the Ansars have long been subjects of harassment and inhumane treatment.

24 have been sentenced to death, and 12 to life imprisonment, in a SINGLE judicial sitting by a partisan judge without opportunities for a proper legal defense.

HORRIBLE TREATMENT IN PRISON

Since 2008, they have been facing imprisonment and torture at the Nasiriyah prison in Iraq, and two have died so far. One was Abu Maryam who was suffering from heart problems but received no medical attention at all until it was too late. His family was only notified a week after his passing.

The second was Abbas Sati Musa, who died of torture, in which his eyes were gouged out with a key and his hands were chopped off. Upon complaint in 2013, an arrest warrant was issued against the officers who did this and this order was raised according to Book No. 500 \ Amnesty \ 2010 on 5/23/2010 issued by the Presidency of the Federal Court of Appeal of Dhi Qar. However, they were later pardoned.

THE REALITY

The Ansars in question were nowhere near the incident of January 18th when it happened, and were arrested days after the incident, based on weak testimonies of other suspects in the crime, and a “Secret Informant” whose identity remains a mystery.

The testimonies by the others who were charged based on which their indictment occurred were coerced and later retracted in court, yet the charges were not dropped.

WHO ARE THE ANSARS?

The call of Ahmed Alhasan has nothing to do with weapons, rather, it is an ideological call based on the word of truth and science, belief in the power of knowledge, such as the acceptance of the scientific fact of evolution.

In addition, the Ansars (upon the instructions of Ahmed Al Hasan) have fought alongside the Iraqi forces against ISIS, with several that lost their lives.

For more information, you can visit Ahmed Al Hasan's Official Website:

POOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

An investigating officer, who was appointed as the judge for the case, happens to be a close relative of an Iraqi military officer who died in the clashes. This represents a huge conflict of interest in the legal proceedings of this case, which can be seen when the judge asked for the re-investigation of Ansar individuals whom they were not able to find any evidence against.

Evidences such as weapons were fabricated, in which those weapons were found to be NON-operational upon further investigative examination.

The officers charged with abuse and torture then absconded from the authorities to avoid punishments, but were later reinstated with a full pardon.

Despite this, their previous investigations which indicted the Ansars as terrorists were not overturned.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We appeal to the world humanitarian efforts to help our innocent brothers in Iraq who have not committed any crime but became victims to weak judicial processes. We appeal to the world to help us speak up for the voiceless at the Nasiriyah Prison.

Help us by signing this petition and raise awareness of the fate of the prisoners at Nasiriyah. Our demand is for them to receive a fair trial, and immediate release without any delay subsequently when they are proven innocent.