The leader of Iraq’s Sadrist Movement said on Tuesday that the local judiciary prosecutes people who have no influence, but has failed to put on trial those who have political parties or militias to support them.

Muqtada Al-Sadr made his comments in response to a question about the Iraqi boy who was sentenced to a year in prison for stealing a box of tissues. The Federal Court of Cassation ruled on Monday to release the 12 year-old. The original sentence caused a storm on social media.

According to Transparency International, last year Iraq ranked 161 out of 168 countries on the organisation’s corruption index.