Donald Trump pardoned corrupt politicians and …

Human rights defenders and anti-corruption activists criticized the ruling of the outgoing US president on Wednesday Donald Trump, to grant clemency to 20 people, including two convicted of the Russian conspiracy, three former Republican congressmen implicated in acts of corruption and Four contractors from the private military company Blackwater were involved in the massacre of 14 civilians in Iraq in 2007. One of them, Nicholas Slatten, serving a life sentence.

The most prestigious forgiveness is George papadopoulos, who was the Trump campaign’s foreign affairs adviser in 2016 and pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents as part of the investigation into the Russian conspiracy led by Robert Mueller.

The outgoing president also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who pleaded guilty to the same charges as Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos served 12 days in prison and Van der Zwaan 30.

The three pardoned former Republican congressmen are Duncan Hunter From California, Chris Collins from New York and Steve stockman from Texas.

Stockman was serving a 10-year sentence for money laundering, Collins a 26-month sentence for securities fraud, and Hunter was soon to go to jail for 11 months for embezzlement of campaign funds.

A few days ago, Trump pardoned his former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, that he had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Kremlin.

Trump’s move sparked scandalous reactions on Wednesday from the opposition and various sectors of civil society, as well as Iraqis linked to the victims of the four Former U.S. private security officers convicted of murdering 14 civilians during a massacre in Baghdad in 2007.

Trump on Monday granted executive clemency to those who have shown him strong political support, as well as former soldiers and security officers convicted of murder in shootings in the course of their work.

Iraqis have expressed outrage and sadness after Trump granted pardon to the four Blackwater security contractors who were convicted of murder and manslaughter six years ago for the Nisur Square massacre.

The four, all former US servicemen, opened fire without provocation on the crowded plaza in 2007 in an incident that left at least 14 civilians dead – though Iraqi authorities have raised the death toll to 17 – while injuring several others. The event has deeply strained relations between the United States and Iraq.

But the owner of Blackwater, who has changed his name, is Erik Prince, a close ally of Trump and brother of the Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.

– “Shame” –

“I knew we would never get justice,” he said. Fares Saadi, the Iraqi police officer who carried out the investigations.

A former classmate of a murdered medical student in Nisur called the pardons a “total scandal” but said they were not surprising. “As far as they are concerned, our blood is cheaper than water and our demands for justice and accountability are nothing more than a nuisance,” he said while asking to remain anonymous.

Retired American general Mark Hertling, who served in Iraq, assessed the sorry as “obnoxious and disgusting”. “It was a cowardly war crime that resulted in the deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians. What a shame, Mr. President,” Hertling tweeted.

Blackwater’s team, hired to provide security for US diplomats in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion, claimed to have responded to insurgent fire.

The US presidential pardon came just weeks after the International Criminal Court ended a preliminary investigation into alleged war crimes committed by British troops in Iraq after the invasion.

“The latest ruling confirms the violations of human rights and international law by these countries,” he said. Ali Bayati, member of the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.

“They grant immunity to their soldiers although they claim to protect human rights. There has never been a trial for the dead in Baghdad,” he lamented.

Trump also granted pardons to two men convicted in the investigation into Russian electoral interference in his 2016 campaign, and three former Republican congressmen from the monitoring group. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) called them three of the “most corrupt lawmakers in recent history”.

All five have been outspoken as Trump supporters. “The message Trump sent tonight is clear: No matter how serious your crime is, justice does not apply if you are loyal to him,” CREW said.

According to an analysis of the law school of the Harvard University, Jack Goldsmith, and an assistant, Matthew gluckAt least 42 of the 65 pardons Trump has issued so far have been aimed at “advancing a political agenda,” while only five have been recommended by the official White House pardons attorney.

Those pardoned, or whose sentences have been commuted, include other personalities convicted in the investigation into Russian interference and a wide range of pro-Trump activists convicted of crimes.

The Democratic Congressman Adam schiff accused Trump of instigating illegal activity. “If you lie to cover up the president, you get a pardon. If you are a corrupt politician who supported Trump, you get a pardon. If you murder civilians in war, you get a pardon,” he said. said.