Defence of
Defence Lawyers:
In
Should We Defend Mass Murderers?
Alexander Chau highlights the crucial role played by lawyers
in defending criminals. Not only are they facilitating the legal process, he says - but they are also the individuals actively enforcing it.
E
arlier this year, the captured spokesman for Osama bin Laden,
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, was hauled before a U.S. District Court in
New York for conspiring to kill Americans. He, being a fanatical leader
in Al-Qaeda’s highest circles, unsurprisingly pleaded not guilty. Since
2001, however, a series of propaganda videos have shown that Abu
Ghaith is, without any doubt, guilty of conspiracy. History will, more
likely than not, tell us that President Obama did the wrong thing when
he chose not to interrogate Abu Ghaith at Guantanamo Bay (with or
without enhanced techniques). However, the fact of the matter is that
this particular terrorist has been handed the right to a fair trial by the
United States on a silver platter; a right that is regrettably, though certainly, inalienable. This is a perfect example of where, despite the obvious guilt of a defendant, a lawyer must fulfil his legal duty in defending
criminals. »
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