It’s 1am in Baghdad, a city under curfew, and the streets of Karrada, a central district in the Iraqi capital, are swarming with nervous security personnel.
A blindfolded man in a yellow prisoner suit is led out of a vehicle by heavily armed security officials.
Positioning himself next to the prisoner, whose blindfold has now been removed, Ahmed Hassan, presenter of the wildly popular Iraqi TV show, “In the Grip of Justice,” does a standup to the cameras in the middle of the street.
"Standing by my side is one of our country's worst criminals. Military leader of the 'Rousafa' cell, he goes by the nickname “Tahseen”. His real name is Fahak Abdallah Radi. This terrorist is going to explain what crime he's committed here," says Hassan, looking relaxed before the cameras.
Welcome to a behind-the-scenes look of one of Iraq’s most popular TV series, broadcast every Friday night on Al Iraqiya, the country’s public broadcaster. Produced in collaboration with the Iraqi justice ministry and anti-terrorist services, “In the Grip of Justice” sees nearly 9 million people tune in every Friday – the weekend in many parts of the Muslim world – to watch how the country’s very own war on terror, an existential fight in Iraq today, is unfolding.
The show features captured terrorist suspects being taken to the scenes of their crimes to reenact attacks they have conducted or masterminded.
FRANCE 24’s team in Baghdad got exclusive access to the shooting of an episode focused on attacks by Tahseen – a 26-year-old leader of the Islamic State (IS) group’s East Baghdad sector.
Even as IS fighters have been inching clos... Go on reading on our web site.
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