BAGHDAD, (Sputnik) – Iraqi legislators intend to transfer to international courts and the UN the case of four former Blackwater contractors convicted of killing innocent Iraqi civilians and recently pardoned by US President Donald Trump for further consideration, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee told Sputnik.
The parliament’s foreign relations committee earlier demanded the government to review or suspend deals concluded with the US security companies over Trump’s decision to pardon four ex-Blackwater contractors convicted in connection with the death of 14 Iraqi civilians, including two children, in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. The Iraqi foreign ministry also said that it plans to convince the US administration to reconsider this action.
The case has been appealed before US courts over a large number of lawsuits and witnesses, the Iraqi official added, noting that all of the necessary documents on the case were filed through the US embassy.
The official is quite surprised by Trump’s policy in this regard, noting that the executive authority in democratic countries does not interfere in the work of judicial bodies.
The Iraqi official noted that this step has coincided with the ongoing recess of the country’s parliament, but once all of the lawmakers returned, they would request the authority’s speaker during the first session to forward a letter to the cabinet of ministers, a number of embassies, the European Union and the UN Security Council to condemn this step.
The four former contractors were convicted six years ago. Nicholas Slatten was serving a life sentence on first-degree murder charges while the others received sentences of between 12-15 years. The incident with Blackwater contractors sparked an international debate about the role of private security companies hired by the US government to work in war zones.
Private military company Blackwater, founded in 1997, was later sold and rebranded as Academi.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
