 Muhamed al-Jundi, the Syrian driver of two French journalists taken hostage in Iraq in August, filed suit at a Paris court Tuesday alleging torture and mistreatment by the US army. | Naturellement. It's the American way! |
"The suit is against members of the US armed forces in Iraq who were guilty of mistreating me, who tortured me, who threatened to kill me," he said. Jundi, 47, was captured with reporters Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot on August 20 south of Baghdad and found in a house in Fallujah on November 12 when US troops invaded the city. The plaintiff is a member of the Baath party of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. He is represented by a veteran lawyer, Jacques Verges, who has made a name for taking on controversial cases. Verges said that Jundi has the right to present the suit at the Paris courts because after his release he was flown out of Baghdad under French protection. | Ummm...yah, sure, you betcha. |
Announcing his intention to file suit last month, Verges said his client was beaten by the US troops who found him at Fallujah. He said Jundi was tortured with electric shocks and subjected to mock executions by the US soldiers. In press conferences after his release Jundi made no mention of his alleged mistreatment. He told AFP that he had put off the decision to file suit in order not to endanger the lives of Chesnot and Malbrunot while they were still held hostage.
No Pasaran blog has the following additional information:
Even the manner in which the chauffeur of Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot was released by the American forces that freed him is grounds for his suing them
The suit that Maître Verges filed on behalf of Mohammed Al-Joundi states that
this suit is aimed at the members of the American armed forces who are guilty of ill treatment towards me, who tortured me, who threatened me with death, including the way they freed me, at nightfall, in the middle of a curfew, putting my life in danger... |