STOCKHOLM, Aug 4 (AFP) - Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who faces trial on charges of crimes against humanity, hopes to stay in a Swedish jail until his trial gets underway, his lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano told Swedish daily Aftonbladet on Wednesday.
"Sweden is one of the three countries where Saddam Hussein could await the trial, if there will be one," Di Stefano said in an exclusive interview with the paper.
Saddam's legal team indicated last month that it would attempt to have the ex-Iraqi leader moved to a "neutral" country like Austria or Switzerland before the trial.
Di Stefano meanwhile insisted that there may in fact be no trial, since Saddam as Iraq's leader enjoys immunity.
Sweden's humane penal system explains why the Scandinavian country figures at the top of Saddam's list of countries he'd prefer to stay in, according to Di Stefano.
"You have short sentences and the prisons seem more comfortable than in other places. Sweden also has a history of being neutral," he told Aftonbladet, adding that his request for permission to temporarily stay in Sweden had been sent to the Swedish government.
"We have not received any such request. We have also checked with the ministry of justice, and I can assure you that they haven't received such a request either," Swedish foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Norman told AFP.
Saddam, arrested by US troops in December 2003 and held at a secret location under US protection, appeared before an Iraqi court on July 1 and was charged with committing "crimes against humanity".