However it seemed as though Iraq's judiciary had already made up their minds. "Iraqi law cannot rely on WikiLeaks documents related to political figures as clear evidence, or a s legal proof,” says Abdul Sattar Bayrakdar, the spokesperson for Iraq's highest court, the Supreme Federal Court.
“These documents were simply published on social media and it has already been said that some of the documents were copies or forgeries.”
Bayrakdar says that the documents could only be used to try and convict someone of a crime if the originals are presented to the court and if a law suit is filed in the usual, official way. Considering that any trial of any of the politicians named in the Wikileaks documents would be like setting a match to Iraq's tinderbox of political sensitivities and pressures, this seems highly unlikely to happen.
Locals believe the matter has already been settled because of the silence of the media outlets that first published the calls for punishment of those whose names appear in the Wikileaks documents. Most media outlets in Iraq are partisan, often funded by political interests, and the fact that these outlets have dropped those stories, means that the subject is now closed.
“When a topic that causes so much debate like this, is dropped by media channels who usually devote plenty of time to the coverage of corruption and undisciplined politicians, that means that political deals have been done,” says Kamel al-Saffar, a local journalist.
“These channels are linked with well known parties.” And, al-Saffar suggests, when they tone down the rhetoric they are taking orders from somebody at the top.
For locals watching the whole controversy play out, it seems the sudden silence of partisan media outlets can only mean one thing: a decision has been made and the same decision will most likely be made by the two investigating committees eventually.
And so the whole chapter on Saudi Arabia and Iraq via Wikileaks, has come to a rather smooth and somewhat slippery end here.
(Wikileaks image via Shutterstock)
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