Iraqi VP trial begins
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-vp-trial-begins
The trial of Iraq’s fugitive vice-president, Tariq al-Hashemi, opened in his absence on Tuesday and a lawmaker whose relatives were allegedly killed by death squads under his orders screamed abuse across the courtroom.
Hashemi, a leading Arab Sunni politician in parliament’s Iraqiya bloc, fled Baghdad in December when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shia-led government sought his arrest just days after the last American troops left Iraq.
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Hashemi is in Turkey, which has refused to extradite him. He has refused to stand trial in Baghdad, saying the charges are politically motivated and the case is riddled with legal errors.