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Lawyers for fugitive Iraqi VP quit case in protest | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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BAGHDAD (AP) — Lawyers for Iraq’s fugitive Sunni vice president facing terror charges have quit the case in protest over not being allowed to present their evidence.

Judges on Sunday refused to let Tariq al-Hashemi’s defense team pull phone records and appointment calendars to refute earlier testimony that the vice president and his son-in-law had ordered bodyguards to kill security forces and government officials.

Al-Hashemi attorney Muayad Obeid al-Ezzi and his team walked out of the courtroom.

The three-judge panel immediately appointed two new lawyers for the defense.

Al-Hashemi is in Istanbul and has refused to defend himself in a Baghdad court where he has said he will not get a fair trial.

He is one of highest-ranking Sunnis in Iraq’s Shiite-led government.