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January 2, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The former Qatari justice minister Mohammad Najib al-Nauimi called on the Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir to accept being tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Khartoum.
- Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir (AP)
In an interview with the Saudi-based ‘Huwa wu Hiya’ magazine published on Thursday, al-Nauimi warned that Bashir could face the same fate of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Al-Nauimi, who was on Hussein’s defense team, called on the Sudanese leader to invite ICC representatives to visit Khartoum and investigate for themselves the allegations leveled against him and conduct the trial there.
“If the court [ICC] refuses then this will be a slap to the parties standing behind the calls inciting to overthrow him [Bashir]” he said.
The Qatari lawyer said that the United States after being assured of defeat in Iraq ruled out military intervention to oust Bashir and instead is using the ICC to remove him and bringing him to an “unfair” trial.
The U.S. is not a member of the ICC but in recent years have warmed up to it and indicated it could join in the future.
If the Sudanese president rejects the proposal he may end up being sentenced to death like Saddam in light of the charges against him, he added.
The Hague tribunal does not impose the death penalty on suspects who are convicted and life sentence is the maximum penalty allowed under the ICC Statute.
In 2008 al-Nauimi offered to represent Bashir before ICC after its chief prosecutor presented the case to the judges.
The ICC indicted Bashir in March 2009 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and in July 2010 on charges of genocide, relating to atrocities committed by Khartoum’s forces in Darfur.
The warrant has places restrictions on his travel and forced him to shun several regional and international events.
Arab and African states have rallied behind Bashir and called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to invoke Article 16 of the court’s Statute to defer the warrant for a minimum of 12 months that can be extended indefinitely.
(ST)
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