Saddam verdict 'judicial assassination': CPI-M leader
India News
Sunday, November 05, 2006
The US and Britain would be held responsible
for the 'judicial assassination' if former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein was
executed, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash
Karat said here Sunday.
'We oppose this verdict which is rigged, a farce and an outrageous one,' Karat
told reporters on the sidelines of the party's state committee meeting.
'The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government should intervene with the help
of international forums and bilateral discussions,' he added.
The CPI-M leads the four Left parties that support Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's government from outside.
'The legal government of Iraq was overthrown by the US and the judge who
pronounced the verdict was the third one - the earlier two did not do exactly
what the US wanted,' Karat said.
Coming down heavily on US President George W. Bush, he said this was a
stage-managed trial because media reports in the US had suggested that a verdict
against Saddam would be good for his Republican party, which is facing
Congressional polls next week.
He said soon his party and all like-minded parties would register strong protest
against this verdict.
Earlier, the party's politburo, top decision-making body, said in a statement
issued in New Delhi: 'This is nothing but a totally rigged verdict delivered
after a farcical trial. The defence lawyers representing Saddam Hussein were
murdered and the chief judge was changed twice in the course of the trial.
'The British and the US government should realise that, if executed, this
sentence will be seen only as a 'judicial assassination' and they will be held
responsible for the consequences,' it said.
'The UPA government should categorically condemn this judicial travesty. It must
actively intervene to get this sentence rescinded,' it said.