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07/12/2004:

"American lawyer for Saddam Hussein seeks U.S. Supreme Court intervention"

CBC News
WASHINGTON (AP) - A lawyer is making an unusual appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of an unlikely client: Saddam Hussein.

Curtis Doebbler, the lone American on Saddam's legal team, wants the high court to declare the detention of the ousted Iraqi president unconstitutional.

The long-shot legal manoeuvre comes as Saddam's lawyers await the chance to meet with their client and find out what charges he will face in a war crimes trial by Iraq's new government. He could face the death penalty.

"Even the people we dislike the most have a right to a fair trial," said Doebbler, who volunteered his services on the 20-member team with lawyers from Belgium, Britain, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia.

Doebbler said his clients over the past decade have received little media attention: Ethiopian refugees, displaced persons in Sudan's Khartoum State, and political activists in Sudan.

His work for his latest client has earned him threats but has not deterred him, he told reporters Thursday. "Whether it's a former president or whether it's a refuge, individuals have the same basic human rights," he said. full article