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Saddam Hussein lawyer wants trial in
neutral state
13.6.2005
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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Former Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein should be tried in another country,
preferably Sweden, rather than Iraq, one of his
defence lawyers said on Sunday.
"We invite the Iraqi government and the prosecutors
to hold this trial, if there is to be a trial, not
in Iraq where it's not safe to hold the trial, but
to hold it either in the Hague or in Sweden or in
Austria or even in Switzerland," British-based
lawyer Giovanni di Stefano said. |
Photo : Saddam, AP
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"I would favour Sweden more than any other country
-- where we are likely, more than not, a) to obtain
a fair trial, and b) in the unlikely event that our
client is tried and convicted, he can go straight to
a detention centre in Sweden," he told the Swedish
public television station SVT. .
An Iraqi Special Tribunal, set up in late 2003 to
try senior members of the former regime, said last
week that no date had yet been set for the trial of
Saddam, who was taken into custody in December 2003.
Di Stefano, part of a defence team of over 20 hired
by Saddam's family to defend him against charges
likely to include the killing of thousands of
Iraqis, criticised the process.
"To date we have not even one piece of paper, one
document, one charge, one indictment, one
allegation. We have speculation," he said.
Under Iraqi law, Saddam can be sentenced to death if
convicted. But di Stefano said the defence team had
received assurances that the former dictator would
not be executed.
"The Americans and the British and the Italians will
not allow that. They will not allow the death
penalty to be imposed," he said.
"And the president of Iraq has confirmed to us he
will be signing no warrant of execution as would be
required under Iraqi law. He has made his position
clear."
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson has said
Saddam, 68, could be allowed to serve a prison
sentence in militarily non-aligned Sweden, which
opposed the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam.
Former Serbian president Biljana Plavsic is
currently serving an 11-year prison sentence in
Sweden after being convicted as a war criminal.
Reuters
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