Vergès on the verge

It's just too surreal. Jacques 'I love publicity' Vergès has started lawyering for Saddam...by filing a suit (this could or could not be true, he's known for making things up) against Britain for alleged war crimes in Iraq.

It's a lot of fluff, apparently, and I'm not sure why it's even getting reported, because...

Verges said he represents Ali Barzane al-Takriti, a nephew of Saddam, and Zyad Aziz, a son of former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz. The lawyer has previously claimed to represent Saddam himself.

The suit did not identify specific British military leaders alleged to be responsible for torture, leaving it to the court to identify those who ''ordered, solicited or encouraged the commission of these crimes.''

The suit only targets British officials because the United States has not ratified the 1998 treaty establishing the court in The Hague, Netherlands.

The court has indicated that it doesn't have jurisdiction over events that occurred in Iraq, which also never ratified its founding treaty.

(Emphasis mine.)

You'd think a lawyer would know these things. And why doesn't the press verify whether what this publicity hound is saying is true or not before publishing it?

French lawyer says he's filed suit in The Hague for alleged British war crimes in Iraq

Why do they rely on what he SAYS? I don't get it. In the article, they talk about the suit as if it's real, but is it Vergès feeding them information?

This is journalism? Or a press release?