Repost from THE COMMON ILLS:
The assassination of Ihab Jawad al-Wani leads to mass protests
As noted last night, "Ihab al-Wazini, another activist assassinated in Iraq." AL JAZEERA reports:
Protesters have burned tyres and blocked roads in the Iraqi city of Karbala after a prominent civil activist was killed by unknown gunmen.
Ihab Jawad Al-Wazni was killed in the early hours of Sunday near his home in the predominantly Shia city, according to a statement by the Iraqi defence ministry. No group claimed responsibility.
Al-Wazni, a leading figure in protests against the government in the city, was buried on Sunday morning.
Witnesses said hundreds of people took to the streets in Karbala in demonstrations condemning the activist’s assassination.
Protesters blocked a number of main roads in the city and demanded security forces find and identify al-Wazni’s killers, and threatened to escalate protests if the perpetrators were not exposed.
We'll note these Tweets:
He is one in a long line of assassinated activists in Iraq. Despite promises of justice, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has delivered none. The message has been clear all along, you can assassinate any Iraqi activist you want and get away with it.
Suadad al-Salhy (MEE) reports:
Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm the Iranian consulate in the holy city of Karbala, raging against the assassination of a prominent activist, protest leaders and officials told Middle East Eye.
Gunmen on a motorbike targeted Ihab al-Wazni in Karbala early Sunday, shooting the protest leader dead in front of his home in the city centre.
Immediately fellow members of Iraq’s protest movement, who since October 2019 have been demonstrating against bad governance, corruption and foreign interference, accused Iranian-backed armed groups of the assassination.
Mina Aldbroubi (THE NATIONAL) notes other activists who have been recently assassinated:
One of the most prominent political commentators to be murdered was Hisham Al Hashimi, who was shot outside his Baghdad home in July 2020. His death dealt a huge blow to the country’s academic and civil society institutions.
Born in Baghdad in 1973, Al Hashimi was a well-respected expert who wrote extensively about ISIS and Al Qaeda, authoring three books. He advised current and past governments on terrorism and extremist groups.
Al Hashimi was also a strong supporter of the protest movement.
Prominent journalist Ahmad Abdessamad, 37, and his cameraman Safaa Ghali, 26, who had been covering anti-government protests in their home city of Basra, in the south, were shot dead in January 2020.
They were assassinated in their car, while parked near a police station.
Abdessamad was a vocal supporter of the protest rallies.
Jinan Madzi, a paramedic who treated wounded protesters, was shot dead during demonstrations in Basra the same month.
Riham Yaqoob, a doctor and female activist who became the face of the protest movement in Basra, was killed last August.
A few weeks after her death, the killing of another activist, Tahseen Osama, pushed protesters to take to the streets to demand that authorities find those responsible.
Salah Al Iraqi, who was well-known for taking an active role in rallies, was shot dead in eastern Baghdad last December.
In his last post on Facebook, Al Iraqi wrote: "The innocent die while the cowards rule."
Amjad Aldhamat was killed after walking out of a police station last October in his home city of Amara in southern Iraq.
He and another activist had been had been attending a meeting with police to discuss a planned protes.
As Aldhamat walked out, gunmen approached in a car with tinted windows and no licence plates and shot him dead.
Ali Jasb, a young rights lawyer, was kidnapped in Amara in October 2019 and nothing has been heard from him or his captors.
Jasb Aboud, the father of Ali Jasb, publicly accused a powerful Iran-backed militia of kidnapping his son, and sought to take its leader to court.
He was shot dead by gunmen in early March in Amara.
MEMO observes, "Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has pledged to prosecute those involved in the killing of protesters and activists, but no perpetrators have been brought to justice so far."