Saddam’s lawyer wants trial moved to The Hague
Foreign Desk Report
DOHA—A defence lawyer for ousted Iraq president Saddam Hussein has
written to UN chief Kofi Annan calling for the court trying him on
charges of crimes against humanity to be moved to The Hague and its
Iraqi judges replaced by foreign ones.
“We submit to you our request for your involvement and your good office
in the present circumstances to call upon the US authority and the
present government of Iraq to review the legal status of the present
court and to reallocate the present court outside Iraq, i.e. The Hague,
Netherlands,” said the letter to Annan from defence lawyer Najib al-Nawimi.
He called Friday for the court to be given “independent and impartial
international judges” and also for pressure to be put on the Iraqi
authorities and their US backers to recognize Saddam and his
co-defendants as prisoners of war.
Nawimi reiterated that his client refused to recognize the legitimacy of
the Iraqi High Tribunal and again hit out at the obstacles placed in the
way of the defence. Prosecutors “did not hand over to the defence team a
copy of the accusation list, neither granted us a proper access to our
clients nor to have sufficient time as we had requested (for) three
months,” he charged.
Nawimi also complained of serious security concerns following the
assassination of Saadun Janabi, an attorney representing one of Saddam’s
co-defendants, earlier this month which he blamed on elements within the
Iraqi interior ministry.
“Though they have denied the present governments involvement, the
material witnesses, we have proved the involvement of the present
government in the assassination, which kept all the defence team feeling
that they will be the second to be assassinated,” he wrote. “We are in a
very dangerous situation where the present Iraqi government has no
control over our security to attend and participate in such a trial”.
Janabi was murdered the day after Saddam and seven co-defendants went on
trial on charges related to the 1982 massacre of Shiite civilians from
the village of Dujail. The case was adjourned until November 28 after
all eight men pleaded not guilty.
The lawyer’s assassination already prompted Saddam’s Amman-based defence
team and lead Iraqi counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi to announce Wednesday that
they were suspending all contacts with the court on security grounds.
“In view of the dangerous security conditions in Iraq and their impact
on Iraqi members of the defence team, along with the never-ending
threats against them and their families... a decision has been taken to
fully suspend all contacts with the Iraqi Special (now High) Tribunal,”
their statement said.
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