Document Reveals Arrest Warrant Issued Against Former Labor Minister Ahmed al-Asadi on Corruption Charges

Peregraf — A document published Sunday revealed that the Baghdad Karkh Appeals Court had issued two arrest and search warrants against former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ahmed Jasim Saber al-Asadi, on charges of illicit gain and unexplained wealth accumulation, according to copies of the warrants reviewed by Peregraf.

The warrants, both dated July 29, 2026, and numbered case 85, were issued by the investigating judge of the Central Anti-Corruption Felonies Court, under the presidency of the Baghdad Karkh Appeals Court, more than a week before their publication. They authorize members of the judicial police and police personnel to arrest al-Asadi, who was born in 1971 and resides in Baghdad's Qadisiya district near the Council of Ministers complex.

The first warrant states that the alleged offense involves directly benefiting from contracts and works that al-Asadi was responsible for overseeing in his capacity as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, by pushing through contracts in violation of the law to obtain benefits for himself and others. The warrant cites Article 319 of Iraq's Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, as amended, and lists the complainant as the Public Right (al-Haq al-Aam).

The second warrant states that al-Asadi failed to prove the legitimate source of an increase in his personal wealth, citing Article 19/Second of the Integrity Commission and Illicit Gains Law No. 30 of 2011, as amended. This warrant lists the complainant as the Public Right, represented by the Federal Commission of Integrity.

Both warrants instruct that al-Asadi be presented before the court if arrested, and note that a complaint against him is under investigation by the Integrity Commission's Baghdad Investigation Directorate. Both documents bear the seal of the Baghdad Karkh Appeals Court and are signed by the presiding investigating judge.

Al-Asadi previously served as Iraq's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs.

The warrants against al-Asadi come amid a wider campaign of arrests and prosecutions targeting former officials since Ali Faleh al-Zaidi took office as prime minister in May 2026, following a pattern seen after past changes of government in Baghdad, in which incoming prime ministers have pursued corruption cases against officials tied to their predecessors' governments. In late June, security forces detained 47 officials, including 13 lawmakers whose parliamentary immunity had been lifted, in raids across Baghdad's Green Zone and other neighborhoods, an operation Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity described as executing judicial arrest warrants against individuals accused of misappropriating public funds.

Al-Asadi had been under scrutiny for months before the warrants against him were made public. In late 2025, while serving as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, he himself alleged that 2.5 trillion dinars had disappeared from the Social Welfare Fund, prompting an Integrity Commission investigation. By July 2026, al-Asadi acknowledged that authorities had seized funds linked to him and said he was cooperating with the judiciary, while rejecting reports that an arrest was imminent.

The anti-corruption campaign has largely been confined to Baghdad and federal institutions and has not extended into the Kurdistan Region, despite longstanding allegations of corruption within the Region's own political and economic institutions.