On Monday, according to a local security official, hundreds of Iraqi protesters closed entrances to Baghdad’s Green Zone in protest of the results of the country’s parliamentary elections.
The protest came hours before an expected verdict by Iraq’s Federal Court in a lawsuit contesting the results of the October 10 polls.
Additional security and military forces were dispatched to the area to prevent protesters from storming the zone, the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed.
The Green Zone hosts most foreign diplomatic missions.
Monday’s verdict by the Federal Court will be final and cannot be appealed.
Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc won the October 10 elections by obtaining 73 seats in the 329-member parliament. Meanwhile, pro-Iranian factions saw their seats decrease from 48 in the 2018 elections to only 17.
Citing technical and legal violations, Hadi al-Ameri, the head of the Fatah coalition, filed a lawsuit with the Federal Court to contest the vote results on December 4.
