Hussein associate denied stay by Court
on Mar 16, 2007 at 5:35 pm
A former vice president of Iraq and close associate of Saddam Hussein during the Baath Party reign there, Taha Yassin Ramadan, lost a plea to the Supreme Court on Friday for a delay in his transfer to the new Iraqi government to face execution.
Captured by Kurdistan forces in the summer of 2003, turned over to U.S. forces in Iraq and held by them since, Ramadan has been sentenced to death by hanging for his alleged role in atrocities during the Hussein regime. He was convicted by the Iraqi Special Tribunal, set up by the new regime with U.S. support during American operations.
His attorneys sought a stay from Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., to prevent U.S. officials from handing him over to Iraqi authorities. He contended that the special tribunal was not a true judicial forum, and thus its actions were illegitimate. The Chief Justice referred the stay motion to the full Court, which denied it without comment (application 06A894, Ramadan v. Bush). A U.S. District Judge in Washington, Paul L. Friedman, ruled late last month that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over Ramadan’s challenge. Ramadan’s lawyers plan to appeal to the Supreme Court on that issue, and requested a stay of his transfer in the meantime.
