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Saddam lawyers suspend contact with Iraqi tribunal

Posted on: Wednesday, 26 October 2005, 11:30 CDT

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)

Source: REUTERS

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