Defence lawyers for Saddam Hussein say the deposed Iraqi dictator wants his case to be tried in Sweden or Poland instead of Iraq where he faces the death penalty, Poland’s Fakt tabloid daily reported on Wednesday.
The report points out Hussein, 68, would escape the death penalty if tried in Poland or Sweden, both members of the European Union which has banned capital punishment.
“I don’t believe in a fair trial under the conditions of war apparent in Iraq,” Hussein’s attorney Giovanni di Stefano told Fakt.
“How can you calmly talk with a client or hear witnesses when there are bombs exploding ?” he said.
Di Stefano has already taken action to stage the trial in Sweden, Fakt reported. “It is a calm and neutral country,” he told Fakt.
“But we may not succeed,” he admitted, noting the United States would likely not be inclined towards Sweden, which did not back the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Poland, however, is among the closest European allies of the US, di Stefano observed.
“Poland was drawn by the promises of the United States and sent its forces to Iraq in good faith,” he told Fakt.
Hussein’s attorneys di Stefano and Jordanian Mohammad Rashdan also revealed it would take them six months to review the massive number of files in the case.
The Fakt report also notes Poland already has a top security court room complete with bullet-proof windows in the southern city of Katowice designed for the trial of mafia gangs which could accommodate the trial of the Iraqi dictator.
Saddam Hussein is standing trial before the Iraqi Special Tribunal for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, including campaigns against Kurds in the north during the Iran-Iraq War, and against Shiites in 1991 and 1999.
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