Saddam heads to Iraq court, two years after capture
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-18 21:18

Saddam Hussein and seven members of his Baath party, including his half-brother, will file into a marble-lined, chandelier-hung courtroom in Baghdad on Wednesday to face the stares of five judges and the world.

Two years after he was found hiding in a hole near where he was born, the former Iraqi president and his co-defendants are on trial for their lives on charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of over 140 Shi'ite Muslim men two decades ago.

Prosecutors say the men, from the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, were ordered killed after a failed attempt on the then leader's life as he visited the town in July 1982. Scores of families from Dujail are also said to have been persecuted.

The day in court for the former dictator has been long awaited by Iraqis and many others, but it may not last long.

Senior Iraqi officials and sources close to the tribunal conducting the trial say proceedings are likely to be adjourned, perhaps even on the first day, so that judges can study defense motions for a dismissal or delay.

Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, an Iraqi with little experience of major criminal cases, and certainly not those involving allegations of crimes against humanity, has said he intends to challenge the legitimacy of the court.

Set up after Saddam's capture in December 2003, the Iraqi Special Tribunal was created while U.S. forces were formally occupying Iraq and was funded by Washington, factors prompting Iraqi lawyers and human rights groups to query its impartiality.

Dulaimi is also expected to petition the court for more time to study the evidence against his client, saying that 45 days are not sufficient to study more than 800 pages of evidence. He has also complained about a lack of access to witnesses.

The investigative judge who built the case against Saddam and the others has said 45 days is enough by Iraqi law, but it will be up to the five trial judges, who have received extensive training in Britain over the past 18 months, to decide.

The trial will get under way amid intense security measures, unprecedented even for Iraq, with body searches, X-rays, deep background checks on observers, eye-scans and finger-printing.

The defendants will sit facing the judges, who will be on a raised dais behind court clerks. The witness stand will have a curtain that can be drawn to protect identities. Bullet-proof glass will separate the few journalists and observers from the rest of the court.

The prosecution and defense lawyers -- each defendant can have his own representative -- will be allowed to question witnesses only via the judges, as Iraqi law dictates.

HUMAN RIGHTS WORRIES

In the run-up to the trial, human rights groups have raised concerns about the independence of the court and its ability to meet international standards for major criminal proceedings.

Among other issues, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have expressed unease about limits on the ability of the accused to mount a defense, the burden of proof, political influence over the court and use of the death penalty.

According to new statutes governing the court, which have yet to be officially introduced, the accused can be convicted on the "satisfaction" of the judges. Guilt does not have to be shown "beyond reasonable doubt," as most statutes demand.

"We have grave concerns that the court will not provide the fair trial guarantees required by international law," Richard Dicker, the director of Human Rights Watch's international justice program, said in a report released last week.

For more than a year, the tribunal has been dogged by controversy and allegations of political interference.

Salem Chalabi, the nephew of Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, was appointed by the Americans in 2003 as the first director of the tribunal, but he was removed last year after he was implicated and then cleared in a finance official's death.

Last month, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told state television that he had heard from the chief investigator that Saddam had "confessed" and signed documents saying as much.

"Saddam Hussein is a war criminal and deserves to be executed 20 times a day for his crimes," Talabani said, although he has also said that he personally opposes the death penalty.

With less than 24 hours to go before the trial, it still has not been decided whether it will be carried live on TV or with a delay, but either way the world will see Saddam in court.

If proceedings are quickly adjourned, sources close to the court say it could be several weeks before they resume, probably after parliamentary elections are held in mid-December.