Home>News Center>World | ||
Saddam bids to challenge case in the US
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is preparing a legal challenge in the United States to his trial for war crimes, a newspaper reports, citing leaked papers prepared by his defense team.
Clive Stafford Smith, a British human rights lawyer, has prepared a 50-page brief which contains advice to take the case to US courts to ensure he receives a fair trial, the Sunday Times reported after saying it had seen the document.
The action is to ensure that Saddam receives the basic legal rights given to those tried in the United States, such as full access to his defense team and an independent judge and jury, the newspaper said.
It said the leaked brief is entitled "The Iraqi Special Tribunal as Victors' Justice -- the Inherent Illegality and Bias of the Whole Process."
The brief argues that US law should prevail in the case because the trial is effectively being taken at the behest of the US government.
It argues Saddam will have trouble receiving a fair trial because leading members of the Iraqi and US administration have already publicly called for him to be found guilty and killed to "validate" the war, the newspaper said. |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||