Najeeb Al Nuaimi

Najeeb Al Nuaimi
Nationality Qatari
Occupation lawyer, writer, human rights activist, professor
Known for Minister of Justice in Qatar; Member of Saddam Hussein's legal defense team; lawyer of Mohammed al-Ajami

Najeeb Al Nuaimi (Arabic: نجيب النعيمي‎‎) is a Qatari lawyer and human rights activist. He is a former cabinet minister of Qatar, having served as the Minister of Justice from 1995 to 1997.[1][2] He previously taught public law at Qatar University.[3]

Al Nuaimi and his firm assembled a legal defense team to represent more than 70 prisoners in Guantanamo Bay in 2002.[2] He was a lead lawyer on Saddam Hussein's final legal defense team.[4] He also served as the defense lawyer for imprisoned Qatari poet Mohammed al-Ajami in 2013.[5]

Personal life

In 2001, his cousin, a 22-year-old Bahraini citizen named Abdulla Majid Al Naimi, was detained in Pakistan and later sent to Guantanamo Bay.[6]

Al Nuaimi obtained degrees in law in Egypt and the United Kingdom.[3]

Career

From 1995 to 1997, he served as Minister of Justice for Qatar.[1] In 1997, he established his legal firm, Law Offices of Dr Najeeb Al Nauimi.[7] In 2002, he and his firm assembled a legal team to represent alleged Al-Qaeda and Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay.[2] He represented between 70[2] and 100[6] prisoners. He argued that the majority of prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay were wrongly accused of being terrorists by the Pakistani police force and the Afghan Northern Alliance.[8]

He was one of the three foreign lawyers on Saddam Hussein's legal defense team.[9] He took part in the Dujail and Anfal trials, arguing that the trials were held unlawfully because the U.S. invasion contravened international law.[10][11] He claims he was contacted by Saddam's family and colleagues to take up the job.[4] He later described Saddam's trial as a "trial of ethnicity, not an international trial".[4] Al Nuaimi did not request payment for his services.[12]

He represented Qatari poet Mohammed al-Ajami, who had been imprisoned by the Qatari government for reciting a poem which was deemed to be critical to the emir.[13] Al-Ajami was handed down a life sentence in 2012, which Al Nuaimi appealed.[13] In February 2013, the court reduced his sentence to 15-years. After the trial, Al Nuaimi announced that he would file another appeal, this time to Qatar's highest court, the Court of Cassation. Speaking on the second appeal, he said "we know at the end of the day he will be pardoned".[5] In October, the Court of Cassation ruled against the poet, upholding the 15-year sentence. Al Nuaimi responded to the ruling by proclaiming “our judicial system cannot be trusted”.[14]

In 2012, Nuaimi claimed that he would defend Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir in court if it was requested of him. However, he declined an offer to represent former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in court.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Russian agents could face death penalty in Qatar (cached)". Russia Journal. 19 July 2004. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Taliban, Al-qaida Getting Lawyers". Sun-Sentinel. 13 May 2002. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 Cotran, Eugene; Mallat, Chibli. Yearbook Islamic Middle Eastern. p. vii.
  4. 1 2 3 "Saddam H. Christ". Vice News. 1 March 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Qatari poet's sentence reduced to 15 years". Al Jazeera. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Prisoners : Guantanamo: Abdulla Majed Sayyah Hassan al-Nuaimi (Released)". Cageprisoners. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "About us". Law Offices of Dr Najeeb Al Nauimi. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Global pressure 'has helped free Guantanamo detainees'". Gulf News Qatar. 13 November 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Anger and exits at Saddam trial". BBC. 5 December 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "America at crossroads. The trial of Saddam Hussein". PBS. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "At Trial in Iraq, Witnesses Tell About Torture". New York Times. 6 December 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Qatari lawyer says ready to defend embattled President Assad in court". Al Arabiya. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Lawyer: Qatari poet to appeal life sentence". CNN. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Supreme court rules against Qatari poet, upholding 15-year jail term". Doha News. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
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