Who Defends Accused War Criminals?

The Takeaway

Over the past few months, throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa, there have been countless testimonies about the human rights abuses committed by dictators clinging to power. Protesters in Egypt and Libya have struggled to draw international attention to abuses of power in their countries by leaders Hosni Mubarak and Moammar Gadhafi. In Ivory Coast, human rights observers warned of a possible genocide as hundreds were killed during Laurent Gbagbo’s final weeks in power. But what happens to the leaders after they’re ousted? And what’s the role today of the International Criminal Court in pursuing these cases?   We talk with Steven Kay QC, who’s a made a career out of defending war criminals and dictators with long track records of human rights abuses. He served as the defense counsel for Slobodan Milosevic and was the first U.N.-appointed defense counsel to enter Rwanda to conduct defense investigations.

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