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INTERVIEW-U.S. lawyer says Saddam faces victor's justice
04 Nov 2006 15:23:04 GMT
Source: Reuters
•  Iraq in turmoil

By Suleiman al-Khalidi

AMMAN, Nov 4 (Reuters) -A death sentence on Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity would deliver "victor's justice" that would fuel violence in Iraq for decades, former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark said on Saturday.

"It's an unfair trial in more ways than you can count. Where have we seen a trial take place in the midst of such uncontrollable violence?" Clark said.

Saddam will almost certainly receive the death sentence on Sunday when the court is due to deliver its verdict, said Clark who leads a team of international lawyers defending Saddam.

He described the court as prejudiced and lacking impartiality, and said it had already condemned the ousted Iraqi president for killing 148 Shi'ite villagers after an attempt on his life in 1982.

"To let there be worse than victors' justice and the revenge of all enemies at a time like this for Iraq is something history and humanity should not have to bear," Clark said before flying to Baghdad.

"It will create violence maybe for generations to come.

"The trial will go down in history as politically forced, it was a disaster for justice. It just went on for too long with lawyers killed and judges kicked off," said Clark.

The government has urged a rapid conviction and hanging for Saddam whose Sunni-dominated administration oppressed the Shi'ite and Kurdish communities, who now dominate political power.

"When you think of all the things people have said, it's very difficult to see anything happening except a death sentence," Clark said.

The veteran anti-war campaigner, who first met Saddam before the 1991 Gulf War, was among the last Westerners to see him weeks before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Clark said Saddam should be tried by an independent U.N.-sponsored court and he was scathing about the Saddam verdict coming only two days before U.S. mid-term elections.

"We call it the corruption of justice, the abuse of the judicial system for political ends. It's a crime and a very serious crime because it impacts on the integrity of government," he said.

A death sentence would not only deepen divisions but would prove to Iraqis aggrieved by the U.S. occupation that there was no other way than a fight to the bitter end, Clark said.

"It's now or never for us and posterity ..they will see there is no compromise, no fairness... so it's a struggle to the death," Clark said.


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Last updated:Sat Nov 4 15:24:51 2006