A court in Iraq’s southern city of Najaf has issued a second arrest warrant for Zaid al-Talqani, the executive director of the Rafidain Center for Dialogue (RCD), a prominent think tank, following a leaked audio recording in which he is alleged to have insulted several officials including Iraq’s highest Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

The warrant has been made by the Najaf Investigation Court under Article 372/5 of the Iraqi Penal Code, citing offensive remarks in the leaked recording.

This is the second warrant issued for Talqani in the span of ten days, but he is yet to be arrested. 

The initial warrant was issued following a lawsuit by Deputy Chairman of the Najaf Provincial Council, Ghaith Abu Shibah, under Article 430 of the Penal Code, accusing him of making threats after expelling Abu Shibah from the Sun Party.

The motive behind Talqani’s decision to expel Abu Shibah allegedly has to do with the latter being involved in corruption and the abuse of power.

To execute the initial arrest order, a force from the Falcons Cell Forces raided Talqani’s house, but he was not home at the time. His guards were apprehended and an unspecified number of weapons were confiscated during the raid. 

Sources revealed that 70 Najaf police officers had previously been assigned to protect the Rafidain think tank building, but this arrangement has been revoked by the Ministry of Interior ever since the warrants were issued for the head of the think tank. 

Article 430 of the Iraqi Penal Code stipulates penalties for threats involving felonies or damage to reputation, with imprisonment for up to seven years or detention.

Reacting to the warrants, Talqani has announced in a statement that he would comply with court decisions and law, expressing confidence in the fairness of the judiciary.

He has also noted that the initial warrant issued against him is related to Shibah’s expulsion from his party due what he claims “corruption”.