ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A court in Baghdad on Monday sentenced 13 individuals to one year in prison on grounds of promoting the banned Baath party.

The Karkh Criminal Court said in a statement that the group were members of a branch of the Baath Party called the National Assembly for Liberation and Change.

 “They were working on receiving directives, making preparations for military courses, and distributing new members to brigades and companies with the aim of destabilizing security and stability in the country,” the statement noted.

The court said that the ruling was made after direct follow-up by the First Karkh Investigation Court, and in accordance with Articles in the Iraqi Penal Code and the Banning the Baath Party and Racist, Terrorist and Takfirist Parties and Activities act.

Iraq’s Islamic Dawa Party, led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, earlier this month claimed that there have been efforts to get the Baath Party back into the political scene and to include their representatives in the November elections.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in November 2024 announced that 29 people were arrested under suspicion of promoting or being members of the Baath Party. Days later a man was arrested for “glorifying” the Baath Party on TikTok, “defying the laws that prohibit the promotion of the dissolved party,” according to the Iraqi National Security Service.