Can Saddam Call A Time Out?

[Annie]

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2005/1019/2140886864HM1IRAQ.html

Tension high in Baghdad as trial of Saddam begins
Lara Marlowe in Baghdad




The trial of the fallen Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, which opens here today, could be the trial of the century or a political, strategic and judicial fiasco.

Saddam and seven co-defendants are to be brought into the courthouse this morning. In the building Saddam once used to house his gifts, the defendants will sit facing five US-appointed judges on a raised dais while they are charged with massacring 143 villagers from Dujail, 60km north of Baghdad, after a failed assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.

The defendants will be separated by bullet-proof glass from the small audience and 11 journalists, who were chosen by the US embassy. Those attending must submit to deep background checks, finger-printing, eye scans, body searches and X-rays.

The identity of the judges will be kept secret, and witnesses may choose to testify from behind a curtain.

Saddam's defence, led by the Iraqi lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi, has filed a 122-point challenge to the legitimacy of the court. "Iraqi president Saddam Hussein cannot get a fair trial before this special court," says the defence statement.

"It is created illegally and denies him basic human rights." The judges are expected to adjourn the court after one or two days, to reconvene in December or January.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who hope to have observers in the court, have expressed serious reservations that Saddam will be given a fair trial.

The 1982 assassination attempt was carried out by the Shia Muslim Dawa party, of which Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari is a leader. Saddam is believed responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, and a trial for such a "minor" incident will leave many unsatisfied.

Iranian minister of justice Jamal Karimirad yesterday announced Iran has sent a petition to the Iraqi Special Tribunal, asking that Saddam be prosecuted for invading Iran in 1980 and "using chemical weapons, genocide and crimes against humanity".

The US, which created the special tribunal in December 2003, has carefully engineered regulations so that the trial may not be used to incriminate the American and European officials who gave Saddam money, weapons, intelligence and diplomatic support for his war against Iran.

If convicted, Saddam risks death by hanging. Under Iraqi law, a sentence must be carried out within 30 days of the last appeal being exhausted. It is not clear whether Saddam will be kept alive so that other trials for other crimes, already in the preparatory stages, may take place.

The Iraqi capital was nervous on the eve of the trial. Several people refused to make appointments today, saying "We don't know what will happen".





© The Irish Times