Politics tainting Iraq VP’s trial, say critics

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s first major trial dealing with the country’s savage Sunni-Shiite sectarian killings is tainted by politics, critics say — an ominous sign for those hoping for justice for tens of thousands of victims of street executions, bombings and kidnappings.
 

The defendant, Vice President Tariq Al-Hashemi, says charges that he ran Sunni death squads are part of a political vendetta by Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, a Shiite.
 
Al-Hashemi’s nine-member legal team walked out in protest in the second court session late last month, citing judicial bias. And the prosecution’s case relies heavily on the testimony of co-defendants, that the defense claimed was coerced, pointing to one who died in custody.
 
More broadly, regardless of the merits of the case against Al-Hashemi — the highest-ranking Sunni in Iraq’s leadership — the Shiite-dominated government has shown no sign of trying to prosecute those behind Shiite militias behind slayings of Sunnis. Several of those militias were linked to Shiite political parties that are now crucial backers of Al-Maliki’s government.
 
Government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh denied any bias in charging Al-Hashemi. However, Al-Maliki himself has acknowledged that politics played a role in the timing of the charges against Al-Hashemi.
 
The head of a human rights group in Iraq, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said he believes the government is trying to pin most of the blame for the sectarian violence on Sunnis.

“I am not defending Al-Hashemi as I believe almost all politicians were involved in the killings of Iraqis in the past years, and their hands are stained with the blood of the Iraqi people,” he said. “All Iraqis know that.” — AP