Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on Monday denounced a death sentence against him as politically motivated and issued by a "kangaroo court", and said he would would not return to Iraq from Turkey within 30 days as demanded.
"Yesterday Prime Minister Maliki and his ... judicary concluded the final phase of the theatrical campaign against me using a kangaroo court set up for this purpose. It was really a shambles," Hashemi told a news conference in Ankara.
"Therefore, while reconfirming my and my guards' absolute innocence, I totally reject and will never recognise the unfair, the unjust, the politically motivated verdict."
