Iraqi authorities altered photographs of Melbourne underworld figure Kazem "Kaz" Hamad after his arrest to conceal that he had been tortured, The Sydney Morning Herald reports, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the investigation. Hamad, accused of running an illicit tobacco syndicate, was arrested in Iraq in January 2026 on drug trafficking allegations, based on intelligence supplied by the Australian Federal Police.
The image, released by the AFP in February, drew attention for oddities including a height chart suggesting he was about 2.7 metres tall and a hand that appeared to have six fingers. The AFP has said only that the pictures came directly from Iraqi authorities and were not changed by it, and declined to comment for the report. The newspaper says the claims could complicate future co-operation with foreign governments on organised crime.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Photo: Melbourne (AU), Northbank — 2019 — 1498-502 by Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Illustrative image of Melbourne.