24 July 2008 :

at the presentation of the Hands Off Cain 2008 Report on the Death Penalty Worldwide, Marco Pannella used the occasion to promote his “Moratorium on the death penalty also for Tareq Aziz” campaign. Mr Pannella has been on a hunger strike since midnight, July 6th.
Currently in Iraq, a farcical trial is taking place in all likelihood that the death sentence for Tareq Aziz, the ‘number two’ in Saddam Hussein's regime, is predetermined. Sergio D’Elia emphasised that the campaign to save Tareq Aziz’s life isn’t “merely a humanitarian act. It is a political act, to guarantee the respect of rights, the rule of law and of justice in Iraq.” D’Elia reminded that Aziz was “denied every procedural guarantee.” He did not have a defence team because his Iraqi lawyer fled the country for fear of being killed. The appeal launched by Hands Off Cain notes that requests by foreign lawyers to assist Aziz were denied. Avoiding Tareq Aziz’s death sentence and execution by this fake “trial” would be an obvious break from the methods and practices in vogue during the Saddam years. It would also ensure truth and justice to all the victims of his regime, not only those of crimes for which Aziz is on trial.
Marco Pannella said that 70 members of the public have joined the hunger strike that he started on July 6th. The Radicals’ initiative has obtained the support of lifetime senator Francesco Cossiga, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Giulio Andreotti, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Emilio Colombo, Rita Levi Montalcini, Sergio Pinifarina, and 400 other parliamentarians, European Parliamentarians and other various personalities. These include Gianni Alemanno, Marco Bellocchio, Cristina Comencini, Serena Dandini, Piera degli Espositi, Roberto Formigoni, Dacia Maraini, Citto Maselli, Giuliano Montaldo, Nanni Moretti, Ettore Scola, Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani and Nicola Zingaretti.
"With this hunger strike, we have restarted the discussion about Tareq Aziz, and we are starting to see the first signals that encourage us to continue. We are working towards avoiding the execution that could result from this farcical trial by an illegal tribunal," Pannella concluded. He asked the Italian Government to "convince Iraqi Premier Nouri al Maliki not to inflict the death penalty on Tareq Aziz."