Zewiya bank robbery trial postponed to next month

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The al-Rasafa Criminal Court in Baghdad decided Thursday to postpone the trial of the Zewiya robbery bank defendant until Sept. 2009. A source from the Supreme Judicial Council said that the Court made the decision to have time to examine interrogation documents related to this case. “The trial has been postponed until Sept. 2, 2009,” the source told Iraqi News. “Four defendants are being tried in this case,” he said. The source pointed out that four other persons involved in the robbery are still on the run, and the government is doing its best to arrest them. On August 3, 2009, police forces said that five of the seven-member gang that robbed the Al-Rafidain Bank-Zewiya branch were arrested, while the two other robbers left are still at large. The information was revealed by General Abdulkareem Khalaf, the director of the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s National Command Center. He said that those arrested confessed to having committed the crime, and that one of the two fugitives is a captain in the Presidential Contingent. His name is Jaafar Lazim. Khalaf said that the Interior Ministry seized all the sums stolen from the bank, and deposited them back in the Finance Ministry. He noted that those arrested will be brought to court after interrogation ends. Investigations have indicated a possible involvement of the guards of al-Rafidain Bank – Zewiya branch in Baghdad. On August 1, 2009, General Khalaf did not rule out the possibility during a press conference at the Interior Ministry in Baghdad while explaining that some security personnel participated in the robbery. He told the press that the crime involved robbery and murder, adding the robbers stole 5.6 billion Iraqi dinars, but failed to open a safe that contained foreign currency. During the press conference, Khalaf had revealed the names of the security personnel involved in the robbery. MH (S)/AmR 1