There goes another potential client . . .

[Roguish Lawyer]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3574503.stm


French lawyer 'to defend Saddam'

Mr Verges made his name by taking on notorious clients


A French lawyer who made his reputation defending some of the world's most notorious figures says he will take on Saddam Hussein as his latest client.

In his long career, Jacques Verges defended Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, Carlos the Jackal and former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Mr Verges says the request came in a letter from Saddam Hussein's nephew, Ali Barzan al-Takriti.

He says he will also defend former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.

He will be supported by a dozen other French lawyers to mount a defence case.

Mr Tikriti sent the following message to Mr Verges: "In my capacity as nephew of President Saddam Hussein, I commission you officially via this letter to assure the defence of my uncle".

It is not yet clear what charges Saddam Hussein will answer or what exact form his trial will take, but it is looking increasingly likely that he will be tried in Iraq, says BBC News Online's Kathryn Westcott.

The US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council in Baghdad is setting up a war crimes tribunal to try him on charges which may include genocide and crimes against humanity.

Saddam Hussein has been held at a secret Iraqi location since his capture in December and little has been heard from him since.

He was visited in February by the Red Cross, which is responsible for overseeing the treatment of prisoners of war worldwide.

It comes as no surprise to those who have followed Mr Verges' 50-year career as a defence lawyer that he should take on so controversial and difficult a case, as he has made a lifetime profession of fighting unpopular battles, Hugh Schofield reports from Paris.

Mr Verges, now 79, was born in Thailand to a French father and a Vietnamese mother, and grew up on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, where he is said to have acquired his fiercely anti-colonialist views, our correspondent says.

In World War II, he joined General Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces, but later he became a Communist.

During the Algerian war of independence he defended Algerians accused of terrorism against France, and married one of his clients who was jailed for planting bombs in cafes in Algiers.

Later, in the 1970s, he became the champion of extremists from both left and right, defending Palestinian violence but also neo-Nazis and he leapt at the chance to expose what he saw as establishment hypocrisy at the trial of Klaus Barbie.

[ktek01]

Originally posted by Roguish Lawyer

A French lawyer .

Thats gotta be about the lowest life form on the planet.

[Radar Rider]

A Communist that defends the extreme left as well as Nazis. Sounds like a typical Frenchman - he can't make up his damn mind. Saddam will spend the rest of his life in jail.

[Gypsy]

In one article I read it stated he's lost most of his cases.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...ce_040327234603

[echoes]

Originally posted by Gypsy
In one article I read it stated he's lost most of his cases.

This gentleman is clearly a Carp in the Lake of life.

Hope he checks under his car every morning before starting it!

Holly

[longrange1947]

Saddam will spend the rest of his life in jail.

Actually, I hope he is executed. As long as he is alive, he will be a ralling point for some group of nuts and/or extremists.

Tha lawyer's stated strategy is to keep the scum bag alive in prison and avoid the death penalty, that the French find so disgusting. They seem to forget that they invented some.

RL, I am hoping that you were planning on the "opps defense stratagey", opps, forgot to defend him.

[Radar Rider]

Oh, I fully agree that saddam should be executed; he's fully earned it. I was just considering the ramifications of such an action. I think that the international community would bitch and whine so much as to make a life sentence seem like the lesser of two evils. I have no sympathy whatsoever for Saddam.

[Roguish Lawyer]

Originally posted by longrange1947
RL, I am hoping that you were planning on the "opps defense stratagey", opps, forgot to defend him.

LOL

Seriously, I don't practice criminal law. Couldn't do it. Well, I could, but I'd feel like a jerk all day.

Sacamuelas, you shut up.

[longrange1947]

Originally posted by Radar Rider
Oh, I fully agree that saddam should be executed; he's fully earned it. I was just considering the ramifications of such an action. I think that the international community would bitch and whine so much as to make a life sentence seem like the lesser of two evils. I have no sympathy whatsoever for Saddam.

We need to stop worrying what the hell the international community whines about and consider more what is good for the US. I could care less if the France and Germany whine until they are blue in the face. Try finding out how many countries France has invaded for "stability" reasons without giving a crap what the rest of the world thinks.

No other country gives a crap about what the world thinks outside fo the US. We need to start acting like a super power and stop asking for permission to go to the john.

Rant just getting started.

[lrd]

Originally posted by longrange1947
Actually, I hope he is executed. As long as he is alive, he will be a ralling point for some group of nuts and/or extremists.

Will execution turn him into a martyr?

And if so, which serves as a greater rallying point (and threat to us): the prisoner or the martyr?

[Surgicalcric]

Originally posted by longrange1947
We need to stop worrying what the hell the international community whines about and consider more what is good for the US. I could care less if the France and Germany whine until they are blue in the face. Try finding out how many countries France has invaded for "stability" reasons without giving a crap what the rest of the world thinks.

No other country gives a crap about what the world thinks outside fo the US. We need to start acting like a super power and stop asking for permission to go to the john.

Rant just getting started.

AMEN.

[longrange1947]

Originally posted by lrd
Will execution turn him into a martyr?

And if so, which serves as a greater rallying point (and threat to us): the prisoner or the martyr?

A martyr is someone that can be held only in the spritual sense.

An imprisoned martyr is still a martyr but one that rallies kidnappings, murders, revenge bombings and the like until the "martyr is released".

You figure which is worse.

[lrd]

Well, if I had a vote I'd say execute.

[CSB]

Q. When does a criminal defense attorney "lose a case?"
A. When an innocent person is convicted of a crime.

Using that standard, I don't believe I have ever "lost" a case.

I am as proud to be a criminal defense attorney as I am proud to have been a former prosecutor (Trial Counsel, OSJA, 101st Abn Div (AASLT), 1984-1987).

You should be asking those critical of the defense bar "What are you afraid of?"

If you are an honest officer/prosecutor, and you have a solid case, don't fear me. I will make you prove your case, but then, you are fully prepared to do that, aren't you?

But if you are a fraud, a crooked cop, a lying detective, a sloppy lab technician and/or a dishonest district attorney, I am your worst enemy. I will drag your lies, your cheating, and your weakness into daylight.

It's like those range officers who "pencil" qualify everybody on the range, and glance at the target saying "that looks good to me" without ever scoring the shots. If you put the round in the ten ring, you will get a 10 from me. But don't come to me and say "don't look closely, just give me the score." You will be disappointed.

[DanUCSB]

I don't think executing Saddam would make him a martyr. A martyr comes when you kill someone with spiritual/religious significance (eg, Yassin), or someone who ruled via cult of personality (eg, Lenin). Nobody misses a thug; there might be people loyal to him still*, but I doubt it's because they love him so much. Which also means, not going to be a martyr if he's in prison either... but from prison, he can still communicate, and has the left-field chance of something happening to get him free (odd, but possible). Don't think Che. Think Noriega. Would anyone say he's been a martyr for a cause?

--Dan


*But we're getting them, one by one.