Activists plan mock Bush, Blair trial
- From: alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Alan)
- Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 09:02 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B3F7C552-F1CB-444A-933B-78B74B40AAE5.htm
International activists and lawyers involved in the defence of Saddam Hussein
say they will hold a mock trial of George Bush, the US president, and the
British and Israeli prime ministers for alleged war crimes committed in Iraq and
the Palestinian territories.
The prosecution will be headed by General Ramsey Clark, the former US
attorney-general, who sits on Saddam's defence team, according to one of the
organisers.
The two-day event, set to open on Friday in the Egyptian capital, will be
sponsored by the Cairo-based Federation of Arab Lawyers.
It will bring together international lawyers and human rights activists
including Ahmed Ben Bella, the former Algerian president, and ex-Malaysian
leader Mahathir Mohamad.
Ziad Khasawna, the federation's assistant secretary-general and once Saddam
Hussein's chief lawyer, said Nelson Mandela, the former South African leader and
anti-apartheid icon, had accepted an invitation to be the chief judge if his
health allows him to travel.
Ben Bella and Mohamad are also part of a committee to ensure Saddam's trial is
fair.
Real witnesses
The witnesses include Hans Blix, the former UN chief weapons inspector who
monitored Iraq's weapons programme under Saddam, and Giuliana Sgrena, the
Italian journalist who was kidnapped in Iraq in February 2005 and released a
month later.
Charges against Bush, Tony Blair, the British prime minister, and Ariel Sharon,
the Israeli prime minister, include "crimes committed against civilians in
Palestine and Iraq," Khasawna said. He said details would be unveiled at the
event.
The trial is not legally binding, but it will be an "exhibition of popular
opposition to the policies of those three leaders in the region and the extent
of harm and damage they inflicted on civilians and countries by wars they waged
and the oppression practiced in jails run by their forces," Khasawna said.
Aljazeera.net asked Khasawna whether this incident could provoke Bush and Blair
to respond in court?
"I do not think they can do anything but listen to what people are saying.
Otherwise, they should prove they did not bomb Falluja with white phosphorous,
or did not invade Iraq and destroy its infrastructure and more," he said.
Public curiosity
Khasawna said a similar trial took place in Turkey some months ago.
He expects the incident will attract attention internationally.
"There will be extensive media coverage," he said.
Khasawna said he does not know if Saddam Hussein and or his defence knows about
the project.
Saddam's lawyers and other international activists have long spoken of plans to
convene the mock trial, saying the publicity will help expose their view that
Saddam is innocent of war crimes and that Bush and Blair are aggressors because
they invaded Iraq on the false pretext that the country possessed weapons of
mass destruction. No such weapons were found.
Aljazeera + Agencies
Alan
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