"I am very frightening of your laws. Look at me, so scaryful."
Posted on 02/18/2006 7:02:46 PM PST by Cinnamon Girl
The European Jewish Congress (EJC) is set to file a complaint in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for incitement to genocide, EJC president Pierre Besnainou told Haaretz.
Besnainou, who was in Israel last week, said the complaint was an independent initiative of the EJC, but noted that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had been informed of the intention to file the complaint. The initiative is expected to pass by a large majority in the general assembly of the EJC, which convenes Sunday in Vienna.
The EJC is also promoting a resolution in the European Parliament in Strasbourg to declare Ahmadinejad persona non grata in the 25 European Union member-states. At the same time, the EJC also has the intention of signing prominent politicians, business people and intellectuals on a petition, to be published in European newspapers calling on the governments of Europe to prevent Ahmadinejad from visiting their countries.
Besnainou, a French businessman who was elected president of the EJC last June, told Haaretz, "Ahmadinejad must not set foot on the Continent where he claims the Holocaust did not take place", adding "I cannot imagine that the members of the EU parliament will refuse to adopt this resolution." Besnainou criticized the actions of the EU governments so far on the matter, arguing that they should have recalled their ambassadors for consultations but chose not to do so for "political reasons."
Experts in international law told Haaretz that a criminal complaint filed against Ahmadinejad had little chance of success in the ICC since Iran was not a signatory to its charter and therefore the court ostensibly does not have jurisdiction to try Ahmadinejad. However, the prominent French attorney Francis Piner, who is coordinating the case, told Haaretz "the significance of the fact that Iran is not a signatory to the court's charter is only that this country will not actively cooperate with it. It does not have to prevent the filing of the complaint, since otherwise there would have been no point in establishing such a court."
"I am very frightening of your laws. Look at me, so scaryful."
Do you remember Ariel Sharon avoiding journeys to Europe and NATO because a Beligian court was starting legal proceedings against him after he was charged with mass murder through some Palestinians in 2001? Since European courts are autonomous and politically independent it was a real danger for him to come to Europe.
Do you remember Augusto Pinochet being grounded for two years in Great Britain between 1998 and 2000?
Have you seen Slobodan Milosevic in front of the ICC in The Hague? I can't imagine that he is feeling very comfortable.
It is indeed a big problem for any person (no matter if he is a "leader" or not) if the European Union is serving a arrest warrant on him or her. Even your own gouvernment realized that it could be a big problem for US citizens. It has its reason why America tries to make sure that their soldiers are not being prosecuted by the ICC.
I.e. all U.S. troops in Romania benefit from immunity under a 2001 status-of-forces agreement as well as under a so-called Article 98 agreement, which in effect obliges Romania not to extradite any U.S. personnel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Romania was the first country in the world to sign such an agreement with the United States; many others – including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Macedonia – have since followed. The bigger and more powerful European nations like Germany, France, Italy, GB, Poland and Spain have no agreements with the US and are for sure not willing to sign it.
Although I can understand that the US are trying to keep the jurisdiction of their own soldiers I do not understand why Ahmedinejad should get this extra treatment. To forget him in a lonely French dungeon would be a good solution.
P.S.
I didn't want to equate Ariel Sharon with Augusto Pinochet or Slobodan Milosevic. It is just because he had also his problems with European justice.
I seem to recall Euro-weenies wanting to try members of the Israeli government in the ICC as well. President Bush too...
Mark
I hope the Armenians would succeed in the same way to accuse Islamofascist Turkey for the Armenian Genocide.
I have a hard time imagining the Israelis running to Europe for protection.
Better they should ask God.
Well we do have laws against drug use and illegal aliens... that counts for something.
The Israelis aren't running to Europe for protection. What are you talking about?
I.e. all U.S. troops in Romania benefit from immunity under a 2001 status-of-forces agreement as well as under a so-called Article 98 agreement, which in effect obliges Romania not to extradite any U.S. personnel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Romania was the first country in the world to sign such an agreement with the United States; many others – including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Macedonia – have since followed. The bigger and more powerful European nations like Germany, France, Italy, GB, Poland and Spain have no agreements with the US and are for sure not willing to sign it.
-------
Why do you use the words 'so-called' to describe Article 98?
Is Article 98 not really called Article 98? That it is really called something else, requiring it to be referred to as the 'so called Article 98'?
Written without any intention.
From winds of change:
"Ahmadinejad said that someone present at the UN told him that a light surrounded him while he was delivering his speech to the General Assembly. The Iranian president added that he also sensed it.
"He said when you began with the words 'in the name of God,' I saw that you became surrounded by a light until the end [of the speech]," Ahmadinejad appears to say in the video. "I felt it myself, too. I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there, and for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink."
Ahmadinejad adds that he is not exaggerating.
"I am not exaggerating when I say they did not blink; it's not an exaggeration, because I was looking," he says. "They were astonished as if a hand held them there and made them sit. It had opened their eyes and ears for the message of the Islamic Republic."
---------------------------
There is no court suitable for this guy. A bullet to his face or preferrably the stomach is what he deserves.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.