30/04/2013 00:00
TW
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By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
SADDAM Hussein's former lawyer, Giovanni di Stefano, who was arrested in Palma for numerous alleged frauds in the UK, announced this week that the prosecution of Tony Blair has moved a step closer after Di Stefano, who holds power of attorney for Tariq Aziz sought a judicial review from the High Court.

Di Stefano, who was, and still is, under going treatment for cancer at Son Espases Hospital in Palma, exclusively told the Bulletin in early March that he intended to issue an international arrest warrant for Tony Blair and make him stand trial for war crimes committed during the Iraq War.

Since voluntarily accepting his extradition to Britain to face 18 “jumped up” charges of wrong doing, including alleged embezzlement and fraud, Di Stefano has been in regular contact with the Bulletin and has said that he has been extremely well treated and is allowed to return to Palma to continue his treatment for cancer.

However, in the meantime, he has not given up on his fight to bring Tony Blair to trial. Di Stefano has accused Blair of “conspiring” to stop his attempt to take him to the bench for the death of “1'332'227 Iraqi citizens that have died in Iraq since 2003 and 179 British soldiers killed to date.” And after having filed for a judicial review to the Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC, this week, Di Stefano, who has been dubbed ‘The Devil's Advocate' for having represented various notorious men including Charles Manson, Charles Bronson, serial killer Harold Shipman, and one of the Great British train robbers Ronald Biggs, to name a few, claimed that the case will now go before a court and will have to be contested by Tony Blair. “Once I get Blair into court, it will be nothing like the inquiries to date, he will have to be cross examined by me and under oath,” Di Stefano told the Bulletin. “This case is about justice for Aziz and for over one million people including US and UK military personnel murdered in Iraq,” he stressed.

Di Stefano was initially skeptical that his case would ever come to court in Britain because he intends to call Tony Blair to the stand but it appears that both men will get their day in court and Di Stefano admits that he can not wait.

And, Di Stefano is not one to give up without a fight or a show, so he could be laying down the law for one of the greatest cases of the year.