Jacques Vergès

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Jacques Vergès born 5 March 1925 in Ubon Ratchathani Siam now called Thailand is a French lawyer who has earned fame continually since the 1950s first as an anticolonialist communist figure and then for defending a long string of wellknown clients from anticolonialist Algerian militant Djamila Bouhired his future wife in 19571962 to former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan 2008 His clients have included both leftwing and rightwing terrorists war criminals and militants including Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie 1987 and international terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez aka Carlos the Jackal 1994 In 2002 he offered to represent former Serbian President Slobodan Milošević although Milošević declined any legal advice from any party The media have sensationalized him with the sobriquet the Devils advocate and he himself has contributed to his notorious public persona by such acts as titling his autobiography The Brilliant Bastard and giving provocative replies in interviews He claims that when asked if he would have defended Hitler he replied Id even defend Bush But only if he agrees to plead guilty Description above from the Wikipedia article Jacques Vergès licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia