Saddam lawyers suspend contact with Iraqi tribunal

By Dina al-Wakeel

AMMAN (Reuters) – Saddam Hussein’s defense lawyers said on
Wednesday they had suspended all contact with the special
tribunal trying the ousted Iraqi leader, citing fear for their
lives after the murder of a colleague.

The next hearing in the trial is more than a month away but
the move calls into question whether Saddam can receive a fair
trial when Iraq is still stricken by violence that shows no
signs of abating in the run-up to a December 15 election.

“We, the defense team that groups over 2,000 Iraqi lawyers
… have decided to completely halt dealing with the tribunal,”
read a statement signed by Saddam’s lead lawyer Khalil Dulaimi.

The statement cited “the deteriorating security situation
and its repercussions on the work of the Iraqi lawyers, and the
continuous threats against their lives and their families that
were demonstrated by the killing of the martyr Saadoun Janabi.”

Janabi, attorney for Awad al-Bander, a former judge who
appeared with Saddam and six other co-accused in court on the
first day of the trial on October 19, was abducted from his
Baghdad office the day after the court appearance and shot.

The trial has been adjourned until November 28. Saddam and
the seven others are charged with crimes against humanity over
the deaths of 148 men after a 1982 assassination attempt
against the former president in the village of Dujail.

An official at the tribunal said it would be up to the
chief judge to decide how to proceed on November 28 if the
defense lawyers do not attend. Court regulations provide for
him to appoint defense lawyers in some circumstances, such as
if a defendant is not able to afford his own legal team.

RIGHTS WORRIES

Richard Dicker, who has been monitoring the trial for Human
Rights Watch, said the tribunal, together with its American
advisers and the Iraqi government, must immediately take steps
to ensure the safety of witnesses and lawyers for both defense
and the prosecution.

He said security was a key issue in all international
trials for crimes against humanity because if lawyers were too
scared to take part, “there would be no possibility of a fair
trial.”

“These issues of security highlight why it’s been necessary
to conduct such trials — highly charged cases involving the
most senior officials — out of the country,” he added.

The Iraqi Bar Association had urged the lawyers on Sunday
to stop working with the special tribunal until Janabi’s murder
was solved. On Sunday, the Saddam case lawyers boycotted the
testimony of an ailing former Iraqi intelligence officer.

The statement from Saddam’s lawyers said it was impossible
to conduct a fair and transparent trial while the basic rights
of Saddam and his co-defendants were being “clearly violated.”

It said contacts with the tribunal would resume if Iraq met
a list of demands, including an investigation into Janabi’s
killing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The statement called for a meeting with everyone involved
in the trial and asked that Saddam’s defense lawyers and their
families be given protection, including 15 bodyguards each.

The Iraqi government has condemned Janabi’s murder and said
it is ready to boost security for all those involved in the
trial. It has also rejected any suggestion that the trial
should be moved outside of Iraq.

Saddam’s defense team urged human rights organizations, the
United Nations and international and Arab bar associations to
put an end to the trial they deemed a “farce.”

(Additional reporting by Claudia Parsons)