An Iraqi court has issued a six-month prison sentence for actress Sara Al-Bahrani, with the execution of the sentence suspended, in a lawsuit filed against her by media personality Haider Al-Hamdani. The court clarified that the suspension of the sentence is conditional on the actress maintaining good conduct for three years, meaning that any violation during this period could lead to the sentence being enforced.

Al-Bahrani accused a director of blackmailing her in exchange for covering up recordings she described as harmful to her reputation, and stated that she had received death threats. She also accused the director’s brother and media figure Haider Al-Hamdani of attempting to tarnish her image by circulating fabricated clips and pressuring her to drop her case or issue a public apology.

In turn, Al-Hamdani revealed that he had published an episode containing a voice call between him and Al-Bahrani, during which she appeared highly emotional and threatened to end her life if he did not delete the “promo” and refrain from airing the episode.

“They are blackmailing and threatening me”

He explained that deleting the episode during the call did not prevent her from reposting the same promo an hour later on her Instagram page, accompanied by a portion of their call, commenting: “They are blackmailing me and threatening me in twisted ways to make me give in!”

Al-Hamdani emphasized that this situation prompted him to turn to the judiciary, stating: “She put herself in this situation; it was not Haider Al-Hamdani who exposed her. I resorted to the law to prove that I do not blackmail or coerce anyone.”

The ruling comes amid widespread controversy over Al-Bahrani’s statements on social media, which included accusations against several parties regarding professional and personal conduct.

Earlier, the Iraqi Artists Syndicate issued a decision to suspend Al-Bahrani from all artistic activities and not renew her membership for 2025, noting that some of her statements had caused controversy on social media and harmed the reputation of the artistic community.

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