Saddam Lawyer Says Trial Mockery of Justice
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James Joyner | Wednesday, June 30, 2004 |
Reuters — Saddam Lawyer Says Trial Mockery of Justice
Saddam Hussein will not get a fair trial and his captors have already decided his fate, the deposed Iraqi president’s defense lawyer said Wednesday. “This is a mockery of justice. We are facing clear legal violations. … The allegations that this is going to be a fair trial is baseless,” said Mohammad Rashdan, one of a 20-member legal team appointed by Saddam’s wife to represent him.***
“Any trial of the president is illegal and unjust and it follows from the aggression that took place against Iraq. The trial is a farce and the guilty verdict had been issued even before the trial has begun,” he added. Rashdan said he and his legal associates in the United States filed suits against the U.S. authorities for not allowing them access to Saddam. The defense team was not given any of the tons of documentation prepared by a special tribunal that will try the former Iraqi leader, he added.
He said the team, which includes lawyers from the United States and France, had been threatened by Iraqi officials and feared for their lives if they came to Baghdad to defend Saddam without international protection. “They should provide us with international protection. … Do they want to slaughter all the lawyers? If the court is not capable of ensuring a proper defense, is this is the justice they are thinking of delivering?” Rashdan said.
***
Saddam’s aides and others among the 55 most wanted Iraqis on a U.S. list are seen as witnesses who could help prove a chain of command linking Saddam to crimes against humanity. Saddam will be charged with ordering the 1988 massacres of Kurds, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, according to Chalabi.
Trying deposed tyrants is always rather tricky. Almost by definition, they didn’t violate the laws of the country they were running, since being above the law is rather the nature of tyranny. Holding them accountable ex post facto under the new laws of Iraq, assuming they are written, is dubious as well. And international law is incredibly ad hoc on these matters. There are, of course, precedents (Nuremburg and the Milosovik cases, most notably) but they’re rather controversial and viewed by many as victor’s justice.
Still, by the standards of Saddam’s Iraq, this will be a fair trial indeed.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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I can see Lawyers from France defending him, but the ones from the US deserve to be threatened.
/scrawlville.com
I agree with them.
Anything less than tying him by the scrotum to the rear bumper of a Humvee and dragging him slowly through the streets of Bahdad is a mockery of justice.
"the guilty verdict had been issued even before the trial has begun,â
The unstated here is that a trial is "fair" only if there is a chance the defendant will be found not guilty. Neat trick, won't work.
A fair trial will document his guilt. (He does hava a chance with that overdue library book thing due to extenuating circumstances.)
I'm reminded of a story my father told me... a woman landed in Germany, and was tied up in line for various searches, etcetera. She confronted a Stazpolelzie officer, telling him how her rights were being violated.
I'm told that the fellow, who did know english, stood there in his full length leather coat, simply saying, "Other side of ocean, lady."
Maybe Saddam's lawyer can debate the Miller Beer guy. See which one can use the word "traveshamockery" first.
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