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Iraq
Lawyer: Saddam to claim immunity
2005-10-14
Saddam Hussein's defence lawyers will argue that he has immunity from prosecution at his trial in Iraq later this month, according to a London-based member of his legal team. Lawyer Abdel Haq Alani told the BBC the former president will challenge the legality of the special tribunal, due to open inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone on 20 October. "He had full immunity under the prevailing Iraqi constitution and you cannot have a retroactive legislation that removes that immunity," Alani said in an interview late on Thursday.

Iraqi officials say the only charge against Saddam so far is the killing of more than 140 men in the mostly Shia village of Dujail after a failed 1982 assassination attempt against him. Alani said the defence will argue that those killed had been found guilty under Iraq's laws and Saddam's only role was to sign their death warrants.
If that doesn't work, he's gonna claim he was drunk at the time and doesn't remember it.
Posted by:Fred

#12  Hey, #1 .com - whachoo doin' insulting sewing circles?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-10-14 23:23  

#11  This jurisprudential giant must not have heard of the Nuremberg trials.

"Your Honor, at the time Herr Himmler was massacring Jews it was legal and therefore he gets to go home".

Of course that was international law, and the Iraqis are trying him first on their own charges. So who knows. But I wouldnt bet my life on it.
Posted by: Baba Tutu   2005-10-14 21:22  

#10  This makes it hard for lefties to support this defense doesnt it? Can you say "Pinochet"?

And Im not sure the things he did WERENT violations of even the Saddam era constitution.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2005-10-14 17:44  

#9  It may be a long-shot but I say claim
Batterd Dictator Syndrome.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2005-10-14 14:40  

#8  muzz Matlock

Jimmuah hates your anger.
Posted by: Jimmuah   2005-10-14 11:44  

#7  No insanity defense, or is that the plan for next week?
Posted by: Raj   2005-10-14 11:38  

#6  Jeezuz. Just fuckin' shoot the old bastard.

And his mouthpiece too.
Posted by: mojo   2005-10-14 10:55  

#5  Damn. Give that man a cup of coffee and a bagel! He's a regular muzz Matlock solving cases on a speedboat racing along the Thames. I imagine phukwit counsel in London is well paid for his extreme mental gymnastics. Who says infantile nihilistic utterances have no value for an attorney billing by the hour.
Posted by: MunkarKat   2005-10-14 09:34  

#4  Look at it this way, .com, all the money they spend on 'defending' Saddam (the best food and drink, the best hotels, etc), is money not being spent in IEDs.
Posted by: Steve White   2005-10-14 07:54  

#3  Ah, just set a date and time so that the entire population knows and can properly assemble, and push the old fart out the building door in just the underwear he was captured in. Let the true will of the 'demos' decide his fate. Wonder if the MSM would actually show a human body being rendered in lots of little pieces?
Posted by: Angaimble Gravish2306   2005-10-14 07:25  

#2  Unless the Iraqi's plan to kill him with spoons, Saddam is out of luck on the "immune" angle.
Posted by: Charles   2005-10-14 06:44  

#1  No wonder there's been hundreds of millions of dollars spent on Saddam's deefense. Brilliance like this doesn't just grow on trees, ya know. It grows in garbage cans, chat rooms, sewing circles, and Govt Ministries.
Posted by: .com   2005-10-14 04:07  

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