French lawyers to file Libya lawsuit against Sarkozy

Two French lawyers said Monday that they will launch legal proceedings against French President Nicolas Sarkozy for crimes against humanity over the Nato-led military campaign in Libya.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Reuters

Jacques Vergès and Roland Dumas have offered to represent families of victims of the Nato bombing campaign, Libyan justice official Ibrahim Boukhzam told reporters.

Speaking during a two day visit to Libya, Vergès, who in the past has represented Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Carlos the Jackal, decried a “French state led by hoodlums and killers”.

Dumas, a former socialist minister, called the Nato mission “a brutal assault against a sovereign country,” and said he was ready to defend Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi if he was ever brought before the International Criminal Court.

Sarkozy announced the launch of military action in Libya on 19 March as Kadhafi’s forces threatened the rebel-held city of Benghazi.