Saddam lawyer wants trial in Europe News
Saddam lawyer wants trial in Europe

[JURIST] A member of Saddam Hussein's defense team said Sunday that any trial of the former Iraqi dictator should take place not in Iraq, but in Europe. Giovanni di Stefano [profile] told a Swedish television interviewer that he would prefer to see Saddam tried in Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, or the Hague, Netherlands where a "fair trial" is more likely. Iraqi officials said last week that Saddam could appear before a special tribunal with two months [JURIST report] but backed off that statement later. Di Stefano went on to say that Saddam had sovereign immunity from prosecution under the Iraqi Constitution, claiming that it was accepted and ratified by the UN in 1969 and has not been altered since. He added that guarantees had been given by the US, Britain, and Italy that the former dictator would not receive the death penalty though current Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari [Wikipedia profile] has indicated that capital punishment is a possibility. AP has more.