Iraqis tired of US-run show at criminal court

[denverbill]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Baghdad's new courthouse is held up by U.S. officials as a symbol of the independent legal system three years of U.S. occupation has brought, but defense lawyers are angry at what they say is summary American justice.

"During Saddam's time we couldn't say a word. Now we scream and scream and nobody listens," defense attorney Thabit Zubeidi told Reuters as he waited on standby for officials to appoint him to defend those accused who had no other representation.

On Wednesday, an apparently typical day at the Central Criminal Court of
Iraq (CCCI), Iraqi lawyers stood aside as U.S. troops escorted shackled prisoners, who were being made to carry heavy cases of bottled water into the building.

Armed American soldiers are a visible presence throughout the low rise building, once
Saddam Hussein's treasure store for official gifts he received. They are also on guard inside the courtrooms, where trials on "terrorism" charges are held.
<snip>


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060322/ts_nm/iraq_court_dc

[tatertop]

1. What did they expect... rubber biscuit?

[saigon68]

2. "FREEDOM IS ON THE MARCH"

Shouted the WAR CRIMINAL CHIMPANZEE

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. US. military . . insisted . . their only role is to help gather evidence

.
.
.

And we all know how good the USA's Military is at gathering "evidence", right?





From the posted Article:

"U.S. military lawyers insisted the court is an Iraqi operation and their only role is to help gather evidence and observe sessions:

/snip/

It is a central part of a strategy to defeat an insurgency that has killed thousands of Iraqis since 2003.

But defense lawyers involved in the process, in which a typical trial may consist of a single, hour-long hearing, complained they had little practical access to clients who are swept up by U.S. troops and detained for months at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail or the remote Camp Bucca in the south.

"We only learn what the charges are when they arrive here," said attorney Amer al-Kinnassy, who was in court to defend five men from one family accused of possessing weapons. "Even then, the Americans do not let us talk to our clients ... If I try to walk over there and talk to my clients they won't let me."

________________________________________________________________________

OK

Who here is surprised?

Anyone? :shrug: