Killer Iraqis face the drop

The BBC and others report that two Iraqis accused of killing two British soldiers (in cold blood) can be tried by Iraqi authorities despite a ‘real risk’ they could face the death penalty.

Am I missing something?

You murder someone in cold blood, while filming it, in a country with the death penalty... It’s not impossible you might end up at the wrong end of a rope.

The BBC relates that Faisal Al-Saadoon and Khalaf Mufdhi are accused of murdering Staff Sgt Simon Cullingworth and Sapper Luke Allsopp and that the High Court has ruled it is lawful for them to be transferred from British custody and tried by an Iraqi court.

Lord Justice Richards said: ‘In our view they could face the real risk of the death sentence if convicted. We are seriously troubled by that conclusion. We regard the issues in the case as difficult and important.’

Phil Shiner, the solicitor representing Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi, says allowing them to stand trial in Iraq would violate both the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1998 Human Rights Act.

Good effort, Phil - these two are obviously great respecters of human rights themselves. It is like suggesting that the war criminals tried at Nuremburg had their human rights violated. In fact, maybe they did. But did anyone care? No.