Aziz is currently serving a 15-year sentence [JURIST report], which is the result of a prior conviction in March 2009. However, the death sentence based on this most recent conviction cannot be carried out in the absence of the approval of the Presidency Council.

In July, the US transferred 26 Saddam-era Iraqi officials [JURIST report], including Aziz, from Camp Cropper [JURIST news archive] to the Iraqi-controlled Kadhimiya prison in Baghdad. That month, Aziz was also charged with additional crimes alleged to have occurred during Hussein's regime, with his lawyer contending that the current Iraqi government was attempting to find a reason to execute him. Aziz's family has called for his release on health grounds, based on claims he has had two heart attacks in addition to having suffered a stroke [JURIST report] in January. In August 2009, Aziz was convicted of forcing Kurdish displacement [JURIST report] from northeast Iraq during the late 1980s, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Prior to his March conviction for the 1992 murders of 42 merchants accused of price-gouging during a period of UN-imposed sanctions, Aziz was acquitted of charges [JURIST report] in connection with the 1999 killing of protesters who rioted in Baghdad and Amarah following the alleged assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr.