|
Prosecutors: Saddam signed execution order
28.2.2006
By BASSEM MROUE |
|
|
|
BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb 28, - Prosecutors at
Saddam Hussein's trial presented a document Tuesday
they said was signed by the former leader approving
the executions of more than 140 Shiites in southern
Iraq after an assassination attempt in the 1980s.
The trial then was adjourned until Wednesday.
The document was among several presented by chief
prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi concerning the
killings of Shiites from the town of Dujail in 1982.
A memo from the Revolutionary Court, dated June 14,
1984, announced that 148 suspects had been sentenced
to death by hanging and listed their names.
The prosecutor said the signature on the memo was
that of the court's head, Awad al-Bandar, one of
Saddam's co-defendants. |
Former dictator Saddam Hussein
Photo : AFP
|
|
A document dated two days later was a presidential
order approving all 148 death sentences.
The paper was signed by Saddam, al-Moussawi said,
displaying the document with the signature on a
screen in the court room.
The sentences were passed after an "imaginary
trial," al-Moussawi told the court.
"None of the defendants were brought to court. Their
statements were never recorded," he said.
The documents were presented after Saddam's lawyers
ended their monthlong boycott of the tribunal.
The defense team's participation appeared to
vindicate the tough approach chief judge Raouf
Abdel-Rahman has taken since taking over the
tribunal last month, pushing ahead with the
proceedings even when the lawyers - and, at times,
the defendants themselves - refused to attend.
Tuesday's session was one of the most orderly since
the trial began in October. Saddam and his seven
co-defendants entered the court and took their seats
silently.
AP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 