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Saddam's Trial Not Usual Tribunal

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

By Associated Press

Saddam Hussein will be tried in a heavily guarded courtroom under rules grounded in international law but deviating from past war crimes tribunals on key points.

The major difference is that Saddam faces the death penalty as a possible sentence. And unlike most similar cases since World War II, he will be tried by his own countrymen.

The tribunal was set up by an interim Iraqi government created by U.S. occupation authorities, although the court is now overseen by a democratically elected Iraqi government.

There will be no jury. The chief judge will question witnesses, and all five judges will decide the guilt or innocence of Saddam and his seven co-defendants.

Saddam will sit with his co-defendants, probably behind protective glass. He will have the right to call witnesses and, if convicted, to lodge numerous appeals before any sentence could be carried out. Each defendant will have at least one lawyer.

If convicted, Saddam can appeal to a nine-judge tribunal that is part of the special Iraqi tribunal set up to investigate crimes allegedly committed by Saddam and others during his 23-year rule.

If the sentence is upheld after all appeals are exhausted, it must be implemented within 30 days. If Saddam should be sentenced to die, that means he could be executed while some of the dozen or so trials he is expected to face go unfinished.

This case centers on the role of Saddam and his co-defendants in a 1982 massacre of 143 people in Dujail, a mainly Shiite Muslim town north of Baghdad.

Saddam's lawyer is expected to ask for a delay, meaning the court could adjourn for several weeks after the initial day or two.

Source: Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

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