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'Chemical Ali' is charged with genocide,
he faces death penalty
3.4.2007
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April
3, 2007
An Iraqi prosecutor yesterday asked for the death
penalty to be imposed against Saddam Hussein's
cousin and four other former regime officials facing
charges of crimes against humanity during a 1980s
crackdown on Kurds, but he suggested a sixth
defendant be released for lack of evidence.
Those being tried in the so-called Anfal trial
include Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical
Ali" for allegedly ordering poison gas attacks
against the Kurds.
Al-Majid, Saddam's cousin and the former head of the
Baath Party's Northern Bureau Command, has
acknowledged in court that he gave orders to destroy
scores of villages during the Anfal campaign, saying
the area "was full of Iranian agents."
Majid is charged with genocide while the other
defendants are accused of war crimes and crimes
against humanity.
If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to
death by hanging.
In his closing remarks, prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon
asked the court to convict and give the harshest
penalty to al-Majid and four co-defendants because
they "did not have mercy on elderly people or women
or children - not even animals or plants or the
environment."
But, he said, Taher Tawfiq al-Ani, the former
governor of Mosul and head of the Northern Affairs
Committee, should be released because the evidence
against him was insufficient.
The prosecutor noted that the defendants had not
apologized.
"We expected them to offer apologies not only for
their victims but also for the international
community," he said. "The court noticed that they
are so proud of these crimes, which they justify and
defend."
He said al-Majid "was the ultimate master of the
genocide operations against the Kurds" but said the
other defendants also bore responsibility for a
"plan that was implemented in stages to eliminate
the Kurdish race from the north of Iraq."
The defense, meanwhile, read a letter from defense
attorney Badie Arif Ezzat, who was ejected from the
court for contempt last month, complaining that he
is still in custody in the heavily fortified Green
Zone but no interrogation has taken place.
Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa ordered the
microphones turned off at that point so the exchange
that followed could not be monitored by the media. |
Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali"
for allegedly ordering poison gas attacks against
the Kurds.
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The trial was adjourned until April 16, when the
defense was to make its closing remarks.
The six defendants faced charges of war crimes and
crimes against humanity arising from their roles in
a military crackdown on Iraq's Kurdish population in
1987-88. The prosecution says 182,000 people, mostly
civilians, were killed.
The others include former director of military
intelligence Sabir al-Douri; Sultan Hashim Ahmad
al-Tai, a former defense minister and head of the
Iraqi Army 1st Corps during the Anfal campaign;
Hussein Rashid Mohammed, former deputy director of
operations for the Iraqi Armed Forces; and Farhan
Mutlaq Saleh, former head of military intelligence's
eastern regional office.
Kurdish anger
Majid is charged with genocide while the other
defendants are accused of war crimes and crimes
against humanity.
Some Kurds in Iraq welcomed the prosecution's
request, calling it to a step towards justice.
"We don't want him to just be hanged. We want him to
be chopped to pieces because he killed many innocent
Kurds," Mohammed Ahmed, a 75-year-old farmer from
Sulaimaniyah said.
The other four defendants for whom the prosecution
wants the death penalty are Sabir al-Duri, the
former director of military intelligence, Sultan
Hashim al-Tai,the former defence minister, Hussein
Rashid al-Tikriti, the former deputy chief of
operations for the armed forces, and Farhan al-Juburi,
a former military intelligence commander.
AP | Aljazeera
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