Police to be prosecuted over fatal shootings in first five days of Iraq demonstrations

be sentenced to seven years in prison”, he said.

The officers set for trial are part of the Rapid Reaction Force, a federal unit that operates as a single entity and “on executive orders from high above”. On Sunday, a police officer was sentenced to death for killing protesters in Wasit province, south-east of Baghdad.

The province’s criminal court also sentenced a police lieutenant colonel to a seven-year term over his role in the death of protesters in the southern city. “Two of the victim’s families took their complaints to Wasit’s criminal court to prosecute the officers,” an Iraqi member of parliament told The National.

“There are also witnesses that say the two officers gave direct orders to shoot the two protesters,” he said.

Iraqis have voiced anger at the government’s failure to address or take responsibility for its part in the bloodshed or hold members of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces accountable.

Militias linked to the group are believed to be behind some of the killings.

The country’s judiciary, which is independent of the Justice Ministry, issued an arrest warrant on Sunday against Gen Jamil Al Shammari over the killing of protesters in the southern city of Nasiriyah last week.

The Higher Judiciary Council said magistrates in the southern Dhi Qar province issued a warrant for Gen Al Shammari.

The council said the general “issued the orders that caused the killing of demonstrators in the province”. He is accused of leading a crackdown in Nasiriyah that killed at least 29 protesters on Thursday.

Najaf, 150 kilometres south of Baghdad, has been a flashpoint in the protest movement after demonstrators set fire to the Iranian Consulate there last week.