Former deputy prime minister of Iraq convicted of crimes against humanity
Tariq Aziz, former deputy prime minister of Iraq and the most public face of Saddam Hussein’s regime before the 2003 Iraq war, has been convicted by an Iraqi court of crimes against humanity and sentence to 15 years in jail. Aziz’s conviction relates to the murder of 42 Baghdad merchants in 1992. He has also been accused of involvement in the gassing murder of Kurdish civilians and may face additional charges. Three other former Saddam-era officials were convicted for their involvement in the merchant murders. Two were sentenced to death. The third, Ali Hassan al-Majid, commonly known as “Chemical Ali” because of his roll in gassing Iraqi Kurds, was sentenced to 15 years, on top of three death sentences he has already received.
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