Fugitive Iraq VP given fifth death sentence TV

Hashemi, a prominent critic of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, dismisses the charges against him and his staff, some of whom have also been sentenced to death, as politically motivated.

Hashemi, his secretary and his guards were originally accused of running a death squad in mid-December 2011 as the last U.S. troops left the country.

Hashemi fled to Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, which declined to hand him over to the federal government, and then embarked on a tour that took him to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and finally to Turkey.