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Hi all, Could well be that something along the following lines will be shot also at the German goverment any time soon in the next months: " Well, the lawsuit that was lodged is ludicrous. The charges deserve contempt, and frankly, no comment. We have been through this before. We certainly expect that the Belgian Government will take the necessary action to dismiss the lawsuit under its laws. As we have also said before, the Belgian Government needs to be diligent in taking steps to prevent abuse of its legal system for political ends." Philip T. Reeker, spokesman of the US State Department Background: In Germany, already since June 30, 2002 there has been in existence a "Voelkerstrafgesetzbuch" ( Peoples' Penal Code PPC) flowing from the principle of "world law". See the PPC (in German - who had ever thought that?) at: http://www.bmj.bund.de/images/11459.pdf . PPC essentials are improved means & opportunities for prosecuting crimes violating international law. In accordance to that law, crimes against humanity and war crimes can be prosecuted and punished for in Germany - even without Germany having been involved in the respective crime and irrespective of the location of crime and of the nationalities of perpretrator(s) and victim(s). A first attempt has already been launched with a law suit filed against Bush (see the following short info). Best Andreas ------------------------------- 1) German Attorneys Sue Bush for Iraqi War 2) German lawyers sue Bush over war in Iraq ----------------------------- 1) http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/365/10026_germany.html German Attorneys Sue Bush for Iraqi War 05/20/2003 10:35 This became possible thanks to new legislation adopted in Germany last year German attorneys have registered a claim against US President George W. Bush in the General Office of the Public Prosecutor in Germany. In addition to George W. Bush, the claim includes members of the German and British governments, who are all alleged to be in violation of international law in launching the war in Iraq. Registration of this claim became possible thanks to new legislation adopted in Germany last year. Now courts of the country can consider cases connected with violations of international law even in situations in which the violation doesn't concern Germany directly. Heinrich Comes, one of the 14 attorneys suing the US president, says: "The American president is protected from prosecution by immunity. However, we hope to take other governmental officials mentioned in the claim to court." Germany didn't give its official support to the war campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime; however, it allowed coalition warplanes to cross German airspace. RusEnergy ----------------------------- 2) http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_781778.html German lawyers sue Bush over war in Iraq German lawyers are suing George W Bush for starting a war of aggression in Iraq. The group of 14, from Cologne, have filed a lawsuit with the German attorney general. They accuse Bush, as well as members of the German and British governments, of violating international law. The move is technically possible under a new German law which came into effect only last year. It allows the country's authorities to prosecute violations of international law, even if there is no direct connection to Germany. Lawyer Heinrich Comes, one of the initiators of the suit, says they are aware Mr Bush is unlikely to ever appear in court. "He is protected by his immunity," he told the Express newspaper. "But we want to bring those responsible within the Bush administration to a German court." The German government was opposed to the war in Iraq, although it did allow US planes to fly across its territory. Story filed: 10:14 Thursday 15th May 2003 _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk