Decision for Alusi to keep immunity correct, positive – MP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A member of the Iraqi parliament’s legal committee said that a court ruling canceling a decision to strip independent legislator Mithal al-Alusi was “correct, positive and in line with the provisions of the Iraqi law”. “The cassation ruling today only stresses that the decision to lift parliamentary immunity off Alusi was incorrect,” Mohsen al-Saadoun, a member of parliament from the Kurdistan Alliance (KA), told IraqiNews.com. The KA is the second largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 53 out of a total 275 seats. “Now Alusi can return to his work inside parliament,” said Saadoun. Asked whether a legislator could sue parliament, he answered in the negative. Earlier on Monday, a legal expert said that Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court handed down a ruling rejecting the parliament’s decision to strip Alusi of immunity for his participation in a conference held in Israel. “This ruling is binding for the legislative and executive authorities by virtue of article 94 of the Iraqi constitution,” Talaat Harb, Alusi’s lawyer, told IraqiNews.com. The Iraqi parliament had voted on September 14 in favor of a decision to lift immunity off legislator Alusi for his participation in a conference on “terrorism” held in Israel. AmR (P) 1