Dershowitz: Prosecute Ahmadinejad over 'incitement to genocide'

Leading American Jewish attorney and civil libertarian Alan Dershowitz on Friday called for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be prosecuted for "incitement to genocide."

Dershowitz presented his case in a post published Friday on the Weblog of Canadian newspaper the National Post.

Dershowitz, who is well-known as a defender of free speech, argued - using the example of Ahmadinejad - that incitement to genocide should be criminalized because it is an instruction rather than an idea to be debated.

"It is closely analogous to the incitements to genocide that have been punished in Rwanda," Dershowitz wrote of the Iranian president's continuous references to Israel's destruction.

Ahmadinejad has called for Israel's elimination in the past, although his exact remarks have been disputed. Some translators say he has called for Israel to be wiped off the map. Others say a better translation would be vanish from the pages of time - implying Israel would disappear on its own rather than be destroyed.

"It is the equivalent of a military order given by a commander to his troops or by a mafia don to his soldiers," Dershowitz wrote in the blog post.

"It is to be followed without question or dissent. In this respect it is the antithesis of freedom of speech, the opposite of the marketplace of ideas. It closes off discussion, debate and dissent."