Adeel
Founder
BAGHDAD A British contractor who admitted to murdering two other foreign contractors was sentenced by an Iraqi court on Monday to 20 years in prison, the first sentence imposed on a Westerner here since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003.
The defendant, who shot and killed the two other contractors in Baghdads Green Zone in August 2009, had faced the death penalty.
Foreign contractors operated with immunity from Iraq law until Jan. 1, 2009, when a broad status of forces agreement between the United States and Iraq ended that protection. The Iraqi government had been demanding the change since a notorious episode in 2007, when contractors for Blackwater shot and killed 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. Blackwater has since been renamed Xe.
The defendant sentenced on Monday, Daniel Fitzsimons, maintained that he had acted in self-defense during a drunken fight with the two men he killed, who were British and Australian. He said that the two had held him down and pointed a rifle in his face.
A psychiatric report ordered in connection with the case said that Mr. Fitzsimons suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The court said that evaluation played a significant role in the decision to sentence Mr. Fitzsimons to a prison term rather than imposing the death penalty.
A spokesman for the British Embassy in Baghdad said there were no arrangements to transfer Mr. Fitzsimons to British authorities.
We would only consider a prisoner transfer once all a prisoners appeal options have been exhausted, said the spokesman, speaking on ground rules of anonymity. We are still a long way from that position. But we will consider all options in due course.
The spokesman said this was a decision made by the Iraqi court and we respect the independence of the Iraqi judicial system.
We will continue to offer consular assistance to Mr. Fitzsimons, the spokesman said. At this time we also should remember the families of those who died in the tragic incident Mr. Fitzsimons was on trial for.
The defendant, who shot and killed the two other contractors in Baghdads Green Zone in August 2009, had faced the death penalty.
Foreign contractors operated with immunity from Iraq law until Jan. 1, 2009, when a broad status of forces agreement between the United States and Iraq ended that protection. The Iraqi government had been demanding the change since a notorious episode in 2007, when contractors for Blackwater shot and killed 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. Blackwater has since been renamed Xe.
The defendant sentenced on Monday, Daniel Fitzsimons, maintained that he had acted in self-defense during a drunken fight with the two men he killed, who were British and Australian. He said that the two had held him down and pointed a rifle in his face.
A psychiatric report ordered in connection with the case said that Mr. Fitzsimons suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The court said that evaluation played a significant role in the decision to sentence Mr. Fitzsimons to a prison term rather than imposing the death penalty.
A spokesman for the British Embassy in Baghdad said there were no arrangements to transfer Mr. Fitzsimons to British authorities.
We would only consider a prisoner transfer once all a prisoners appeal options have been exhausted, said the spokesman, speaking on ground rules of anonymity. We are still a long way from that position. But we will consider all options in due course.
The spokesman said this was a decision made by the Iraqi court and we respect the independence of the Iraqi judicial system.
We will continue to offer consular assistance to Mr. Fitzsimons, the spokesman said. At this time we also should remember the families of those who died in the tragic incident Mr. Fitzsimons was on trial for.
