Monitoring Desk
BAGHDAD: The Christian politicians in Iraq are attempting to overturn legislation banning the import and sale of alcohol.
According to the BBC, Customs officials were given orders to enforce the restrictions. The new law was encated previous month despite opposition.
The group, which has five seats in the parliament of Iraq, filed a lawsuit that said it was undemocratic.
Public alcohol consumption is frowned upon in the country, a predominantly Muslim nation, but it can be bought at liquor stores and licensed bars.
A law, originally passed by the parliament of Iraq in 2016, imposes a fine of up to 25m Iraqi dinars.
Ban on alcohol in Iraq
It prohibits the sale, import, and production of alcohol and only became official the previous month, 7 years since it was passed, after appearing in the official gazette.
It remains ambiguous how strictly the law could be enforced and whether the Iraq Federal Supreme Court would knock it back.
In their appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, the members of the Babylon Movement insisted the legislation was unconstitutional and undemocratic because it ignored the minorities’ rights and restricted freedom.
It also contradicts a government of Iraq decree, adopted less than the week before the gazette was published on 20 February 2023, setting duty at 200 percent on all imported alcoholic drinks for the next four years, they say.
Sarmad Abbas, the estate agent based in Iraq’s capital Baghdad, told the AFP news agency the restriction would merely push alcohol sales onto the illegal market.
He acknowledged that Muslim teachings prohibit the consumption of alcohol. He said that “But these are personal freedoms that you can’t forbid people from practicing,”
According to reports at the time, a bill was primarily proposed by Mahmoud al-Hassan, then a judge and lawmakers for Iraq’s State of Law Coalition.
He said that it was in keeping with Article 2 of Iraq’s constitution, which bans any legislation that goes against Islam, according to the AP news agency.
