Lawyers sue UK for war crimes
The Athens Bar Association (DSA) yesterday filed a suit at the International Criminal Court at The Hague against Prime Minister Tony Blair and other senior British government and military officials for what it claimed were crimes against humanity during the US-led war in Iraq. The United States does not recognize the new court’s jurisdiction. «The criminal actions of the British violate a large number of penal articles included in the charter of the International Criminal Court,» the association claimed. It referred to 22 military operations in Baghdad, Mosul and other parts of Iraq in which dozens of civilians were reported killed. The DSA said it was acting in accordance with its own institutional role, which includes the «protection of international legality.» The suit is not supported unanimously by Athenian lawyers. «I did not support this act. I consider it populist fireworks. In fact, many colleagues abstained from the vote. I believe that the suit will lead nowhere,» DSA board member Dimitris Hadzimichalis told Kathimerini. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo will decide if the 47-page complaint is valid.
