Saddam’s deputy minister sentenced to death

Tariq Aziz served as Iraq's deputy prime minister and foreign minister under Saddam Hussein.

Aziz, who has been in prison since the fall of Baghdad in 2003 and is currently serving a 15-year sentence for executing 42 Iraqi merchants, has now been sentenced to death by hanging for his role in the persecution of religious parties. His defence lawyer said that the verdict was politically motivated because one of the parties he’s accused of persecuting is the Dawa party, of which current Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is a member. At 74-years-old, Aziz is in poor health after suffering a stroke. He was the highest-ranking Christian under Hussein’s regime and was often the public face of the Iraqi government. There is no word yet whether he will appeal the sentence.