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Chemicals Trader 'Frans van Anraat'
Appeals Iraq Conviction
26.4.2007
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April
26, 2007
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, -- A Dutch
businessman appealing his war crimes conviction for
selling Iraq banned chemicals during its war with
Iran drew praise from Saddam Hussein's regime for
his efforts, prosecutors said Wednesday on the
closing day of the proceedings.
Not only did Frans van Anraat "expose himself to
extremely dangerous consequences" by selling the
chemicals, he also did so "at a reasonable price
compared to other offers," according to a 1992
letter from Iraq's secret service to the Mideast
country's Industry Ministry cited by prosecutors.
Van Anraat was convicted in 2005 of complicity in
war crimes and sentenced to the maximum 15 years for
selling to Saddam chemicals that were turned into
poison gas that killed thousands of Kurds and
Iranians.
But the court ruled it was not proven that Van
Anraat knew the chemicals would be used as part of
what prosecutors called a genocidal campaign against
Kurds in northern Iraq, and cleared him of
complicity in genocide.
Prosecutor Simon Minks urged a four-judge panel in
The Hague Appeals Court to also convict Van Anraat,
64, of the genocide charge, which carries a maximum
30-year sentence.
"Prosecutors consider it proven beyond reasonable
doubt that the suspect Van Anraat is complicit in
genocide carried out by the former Iraqi regime
against the Kurdish population in 1987 and 1988 and
complicit in war crimes committed against the
Iranian population from 1986-1988," Minks said. |
Frans van Anraat, a Dutch businessman who sold
chemicals to Saddam used in gas attacks on
Kurdish villages in Iraq in the 1980s
Former dictator Saddam Hussein
Photo : AFP |
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Van Anraat's lawyers argued for acquittal, saying
the court cannot find him guilty beyond reasonable
doubt because it is very unlikely the judges have
the full picture of who was selling chemicals to
Iraq at the time.
They also have argued that Van Anraat's trial was
unfair because several witnesses, including Saddam's
cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali,
were not called to testify.
Prosecutors also urged judges not to reduce Van
Anraat's 15-year sentence.
Van Anraat's chemical sales to Iraq "are so ...
objectionable that they deserve the maximum sentence
even if that is only 15 years," Minks said. "The
sentence should send a message to others here and
overseas who are engaged in similar evil practices."
The appeals court is scheduled to deliver its
decision May 9.
AP
About Frans van Anraat
Frans Cornelis Adrianus van Anraat (born August 9,
1942 in Den Helder) is a Dutch businessman who sold
raw materials for the production of chemical weapons
to Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein.
During the 1970's Van Anraat worked at engineering
companies in Italy, Switzerland and Singapore that
were building chemical plants in Iraq. Having
learned about the trade in chemicals, he founded his
own company, "FCA Contractor", based in Bissone,
Switzerland. From 1984 he supplied thousands of tons
of chemicals to Iraq.
Among these chemicals were the essential raw
materials for producing mustard gas and nerve gas.
Both gases were used during the Iran-Iraq war
between 1980-1988 as well as during an attack the
military carried out on Iraqi Kurds in 1988, in
which some 5,000 people were killed. This attack was
part of the Al-Anfal campaign of the Iraqi regime
against Kurds in the north of the country.
After his arrest and release in Italy in 1989, Van
Anraat fled to Iraq, where he lived for the next 14
years. When Saddam's regime fell in 2003, Van Anraat
returned to the Netherlands. He was arrested on
December 6, 2004 for complicity to war crimes and
genocide. On December 23, he was sentenced to
fifteen years in prison for complicity to war
crimes, but the court argued the charges of
complicity to genocide could not be substantiated.
The public prosecutor appealed the verdict. This
case is also notable, because it established that
the chemical bombings in North Iraq constituted
genocide according to the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Soon after his arrest, Dutch newspapers reported
that Van Anraat had been an informer of the Dutch
secret service AIVD.
Van Anraat is the only Dutchman ever to appear on
the FBI's most wanted list.
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