ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi state media announced Wednesday that a Basra court had sentenced two convicts to over five years in prison, after being charged with engaging in witchcraft to lure and blackmail women.

"The Basra Criminal Court issued a five-year and one-month prison sentence against two convicts who lured a number of women to one of their homes using fraudulent methods and witchcraft for the purpose of blackmailing and extorting sums of money," said INA, quoting a judicial statement.

The sentence was issued under the Anti-Prostitution and Homosexuality Law, said the Iraqi state-run outlet, citing the court.

Large numbers of people in Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region, are believed to seek the services of witchcraft and sorcery practitioners.

This phenomenon poses the risk of blackmail for those who avail of such services, with Baghdad and Erbil authorities repeatedly clamping down on practitioners.

In early April, Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior announced it had arrested nearly 50 individuals for practicing witchcraft and sorcery.

Local police in Iraq’s Anbar province, meanwhile announced in early August, the arrest of a group of eight people specializing in witchcraft and sorcery crimes, as well as the seizure of tools used in the practice, as part of a campaign by authorities to clamp down on the growing phenomenon. 

The practice of witchcraft is prohibited according to Iraqi law, with practitioners facing severe punishments, including a maximum sentence of five years, as handed out in the Basra case.