Saddam Hussein to receive death penalty

Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa for Amnesty International:

Quote:

"Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and we deplore the death penalty in this case.

"It is because we consider that the trial was flawed in serious ways that it is more concerning that the death penalty should be imposed."

He listed his group's concerns about the trials.

"The independence and impartiality of the court was impugned. There was political interference. The first judge resigned, the second was barred for being a former member of the Baath party, the only political entity at the time, and the third judge had relatives who were killed in Halabje [where Kurds were gassed by Saddam Hussein's forces].

"The security of the court was also impossible to keep. Three defence lawyers were murdered. Saddam himself had no access to legal advice for a year. There were also problems with the defence's ability to function."

I know he is an evil and unrepenting man; but how you can call this a fair trial is beyond me, and to kill the man is to just sweep the problem under the rug, theres no victory here on the 'war on terror' Mr. Blair. He probably does deserve to be killed (yet who are we to say), but how you can uphold this verdict from such a incompetent, negligent, polictally strung and dispicable trial is beyond me, espeically from those tout a new 'democratic' Iraq dictated to by the United States.

I love the timing of this charade which comes days before the US votes in mid-term elections.

Jam it back in, in the dark.