freedavid

On Tuesday the prosecution produced documents that purported to show the former dictator had ordered the killings, and called two witnesses. Both complained that they had been made to testify and could not provide useful testimony. One, Fadhil al-Azzawi, a former ambassador in Moscow, said he had not even been in Iraq at the time.

freedavid

“I reject being a witness in this case because I do not have information,” al-Azzawi said. “I was forced to come to court.”
Three other former Saddam loyalists who were compelled to give evidence last week failed to corroborate most of the prosecution claims.

freedavid

Saddam has punctuated the proceedings with outbursts and announced last week that he and his co-defendants were going on hunger strike to protest against the judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, who took over the case last month.

freedavid

This followed a walkout last month by the entire defence team, which has refused to return unless Abdel-Rahman is replaced. The court has appointed other lawyers in their place but the defendants have refused to accept them.

freedavid

The defence claims the judge cannot be impartial because he was born in Halabja, the scene of the gas attack, and some of his relatives died.

freedavid

Lawyers also claim he was a member of a Kurdish party opposed to Saddam’s regime and that he was convicted in absentia and given a life sentence in one of Saddam’s courts in 1977.

freedavid

Several international human rights groups have criticised the handling of the trial and have argued that it should be moved to an international tribunal.

freedavid

负责审判萨达姆的首席检查官对外界表示，如果萨达姆被证明在下令屠杀140名杜杰尔(Dujail)镇居民的事件中有罪的话，那么老萨将有可能在数月内被送上绞刑架处以死刑。

freedavid

中新网消息指出，目前萨达姆还面临11项其它的指控，而萨达姆不可能通过拖延法庭审判时间来逃避死刑。一名检查官在采访中表示，在去年下半年通过的新法律条款规定，如果在判决出来的30天内没能够成功的进行上诉的话，那么所有的死刑判决就必需要执行。他说：「一但萨达姆因杜杰尔屠杀事件的指控被判死刑，其它对他的指控将不用开庭审理了。」他还表示，目前对杜杰尔屠杀事件的审判已经过了4个月，对萨达姆和其它七名共同被告人的审理工作已经完成了75%。目前法庭已经成立了一个由9人组成的陪审团来处理上诉。审查活动将很有可能在一个月的时间内完成。

freedavid

检查官的这番话受到了伊拉克的什叶派人士和库尔德人的欢迎，此前什叶派人士和库尔德人已经被法庭漫长的审判程序所激怒了，对萨达姆在法庭上屡屡侮辱法官，也使得对萨达姆的审判也越来越象一场闹剧。