ERBIL — Iraq’s top appeals court has overturned the conviction of a senior police officer imprisoned for killing protesters in 2019 in southern Iraq.

Commander Omar Nizar, of Iraq’s elite rapid response unit, was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2023 for the deaths of about 20 protesters and injuries to 190 others on a bridge in the southern city of Nasiriyah in November 2019.

The Court of Appeals has determined there was insufficient evidence against Nizar. The anti-government protests that began in October 2019, mobilizing tens of thousands for months, were fueled by frustration with deteriorating infrastructure, endemic corruption, and youth unemployment.

The nationwide crackdown resulted in more than 600 deaths and thousands of injuries, with the repression particularly severe in the impoverished and marginalized city of Nasiriyah.

Commander Nizar was previously jailed for ordering live ammunition to be fired at protesters on the Zeitoun bridge in Nasiriyah, causing deaths and injuries.

The appeals court, which issued its verdict last month, found substantial doubts regarding the evidence against Nizar, ruling that such doubts must be interpreted in favor of the accused.

The killings on the Zeitoun bridge, one of the bloodiest episodes of the protest movement, provoked outrage and ultimately led to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi.

In recent years, few convictions have been handed down for the killings of activists and journalists during the protests.

In the summer of 2022, the United Nations mission in Iraq condemned the ongoing environment of fear and intimidation that limits freedom of expression.

The UN was particularly critical of the persistent impunity for targeted attacks against protesters, activists, and dissidents critical of armed groups and political actors associated with them.