Iraqi TV presenter Ahmad Hassan is pictured on the set of the a show titled "In the grip of the law" in Baghdad on January 22, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / SABAH ARAR
Iraqi television presenter Ahmad Hassan is pictured on the set of "In the grip of the law" in Baghdad on January 22, 2018. Sabah Arar / AFP

Iraq TV show broadcasts 'confessions' of death-row extremists



Every Friday in Iraq at peak viewing time, state television beams the alleged confessions of death-row extremists into homes around the country.

A weekly programme broadcasts gruesome images of their purported crimes followed by interviews with the extremists, who appear clad in orange or yellow jumpsuits.

Baghdad declared victory against ISIL in December, after years of fighting to regain vast stretches of territory that the extremists seized in 2014.

Iraq has detained thousands of suspected members of ISIL, which became infamous for executing its own detainees in orange jumpsuits.

Now, a show titled "In the grip of the law" takes convicted extremists back to the scene of their crime under heavy security.

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By spotlighting ISIL atrocities, the show aims to stamp out any remaining support for the group's ideology, its presenter says.

"I get tipped off by the interior ministry, the defence ministry or national security, who captured them," Ahmad Hassan, 36, explains.

"They choose the case to highlight and I ask the justice ministry for permission to interview the convict."

The programme is up to its 150th episode, Mr Hassan adds — and not about to end any time soon.

"Even if IS has lost militarily, its ideology still exists," he says.

"Its supporters view others as non-believers and will continue to murder as long as its ideology lives on."

Dressed in a beige suit and brown tie and standing on a set meant to evoke a detective agency, Mr Hassan starts his show each week with shocking images.

One episode opens with a photo of dozens of Sunni tribesmen lying in a pool of their own blood, after their 2014 execution by ISIL in the town of Heet, north-west of Baghdad.

It then introduces Mithaq Hamid Hekmet, 41, one of those condemned over the massacre, who recounts the killings in chilling detail — even citing the names of others who took part.

On the show's set, a mahogany desk, stacks of papers, maps of Baghdad and mugshots of that episode's convict seek to create an intriguing atmosphere to draw in viewers.

In another episode, former ISIL finance official Mohammad Hamid Omar, whose nom de guerre is Abu Hajjaj, describes his speciality: extorting funds from pharmacies, schools, real estate agencies, petrol stations and doctors.

Mr Hassan says all of his interviewees have been found guilty and sentenced — most to death, but some to lengthy prison terms.

They are mostly Iraqis, but also sometimes nationals from other Arab countries.

Some have since been executed, Mr Hassan says, but "that's the justice ministry's business, not mine".

Iraq executed more than 100 people last year, mostly after "terrorism" convictions, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has said.

The country's antiterrorism law orders the death penalty for any person who commits, plans, funds or assists in acts of "terrorism".

Mr Hassan says all his convict interviewees take part "voluntarily", and know participating will in no way help to alleviate their sentence.

"They do it because they have regrets," he says.

"They want to show the horrendous acts they have committed and reveal the thinking of the group they belonged to, to persuade others not to make the same mistake."

The show's most poignant moments are meetings set up between the convicts and the mothers of their purported victims.

In one such scene, the mother of two policemen killed by ISIL vents her anger.

"Why did you kill my sons Ahmad and Hamid?" she asks three sentenced extremists, who hang their heads in response.

"They were your friends. Did they ever wrong you? Why did you destroy my family?" asks the woman, dressed from head-to-toe in black.

Another woman, whose son was shot in the head by ISIL, asks four prisoners: "How can you eat with those hands that killed my son?"

Human rights groups have criticised the programme for showing death-row inmates on television before their execution.

Mr Hassan says the interviews comply with human rights laws.

"We don't pressure anyone," he says.

"But we're in a situation of war and it's best to focus on the rights of victims, rather than those of the terrorists".

Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan says is a fan of the programme.

"Thanks to this show, people can see security forces provide true information. It creates bonds with the population."

SPECS

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

TWISTERS

Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung

Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos

Rating:+2.5/5

if you go

The flights

Fly to Rome with Etihad (www.etihad.ae) or Emirates (www.emirates.com) from Dh2,480 return including taxes. The flight takes six hours. Fly from Rome to Trapani with Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) from Dh420 return including taxes. The flight takes one hour 10 minutes.

The hotels

The author recommends the following hotels for this itinerary. In Trapani, Ai Lumi (www.ailumi.it); in Marsala, Viacolvento (www.viacolventomarsala.it); and in Marsala Del Vallo, the Meliaresort Dimore Storiche (www.meliaresort.it).

'Dark Waters'

Directed by: Todd Haynes

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, William Jackson Harper 

Rating: ****

Mobile phone packages comparison
Quick facts
  • Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) offers free guided tours of art in the metro and at the stations
  • The tours are free of charge; all you need is a valid SL ticket, for which a single journey (valid for 75 minutes) costs 39 Swedish krone ($3.75)
  • Travel cards for unlimited journeys are priced at 165 Swedish krone for 24 hours
  • Avoid rush hour – between 9.30 am and 4.30 pm – to explore the artwork at leisure
THE SPECS

Engine: 3.6-litre V6

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 285bhp

Torque: 353Nm

Price: TBA

On sale: Q2, 2020

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6.30pm: Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 1,200m
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7.40pm: Zabeel Turf Listed $175,000 (T) 2,000m​​​​​​​
8.15pm: Cape Verdi Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m​​​​​​​
8.50pm: Handicap $135,000 (D) 1,600m​​​​​​​
9.25pm: Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,600m

'The Ice Road'

Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne

2/5

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal

Rating: 2/5

KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY

July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington

July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon

1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024

1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs

2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website

2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006

2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black

2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year

2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video

2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started

2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products

2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013

2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS

2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa

2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition

2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone

MATCH DETAILS

Liverpool 2

Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)

Genk 1

Samatta (40)

 

Kill

Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal

Rating: 4.5/5