(AFP/Scanpix)

«We wish that he is pardoned and allowed to live in exile, in for example Sweden,» said Saddam Hussein’s lawyer Giovanni di Stefano, to the paper Aftonbladet.

Yesterday, he met with representatives for the Iraqi government in order to present an application of pardon. In the application, the question of a possible exile country is raised.

«You can ask for pardon regardless if you are guilty or not guilty in the accusations,» stated di Stefano. «In Saddam’s case the accusations are just bullshit.»

Genocide
Iraq’s former dictator is charged on seven accounts, including breaching human rights and genocide.

di Stefano admits that Kurds were gassed, but claims that it is not proven that Saddam was responsible for the genocide.

«The nerve gas was not produced in Iraq, imported there or had any connection what so ever to Iraq,» di Stefano said.

Election
Saddam Hussein has spent ten months in American imprisonment and he is allegedly both frustrated and depressed. He is still determined to run as a candidate in the Iraqi president election.

«Saddam Hussein got 98 percent of the votes at the last election,» di Stafano said. «A new poll indicates that about half of the Iraqis want to execute him, while the other half wants him as president.»

He claims that the violence in Iraq can only be stopped by starting the trial against Saddam right away or releasing him until his case comes up. The lawyer said he thinks it’s going to take a while before the case against Saddam starts.

«It’s impossible to have a trial before the election,» di Stefano stated. «We need at least two years to prepare the case with all the documentation that exists.»