Saddam's lawyer condemns trial plans

A lawyer for Saddam Hussein today condemned plans to try the former Iraqi leader in a US-funded special court, saying it is illegitimate, and said that he and other members of Saddam’s defence team have been denied access to him.

Saddam and his 11 top lieutenants have been held for months at an undisclosed location, believed to be near the Baghdad International Airport, west of the capital. They appeared before the Iraqi Special Tribunal in July 2004 to face preliminary charges for their activities under the former regime.

Saddam was captured north of Baghdad in December 2003.

Ziad al-Khasawneh, who heads a committee set up to provide Saddam’s legal defence, said the special court doesn’t meet the requirements for a fair and safe trial, and there were no grounds to try Saddam in the first place.

“We believe Saddam and his colleagues should not be tried by any court,” he said at a news conference in Tokyo, where he is trying to raise support.

“Whatever is built on illegality is illegal. Everything after the occupation - the temporary government, the elections – are illegitimate.”

Al-Khasawneh said that under Iraqi law, Saddam and his colleagues were immune to criminal charges, and they are thus not liable under international law, either.

“Iraqi law before the occupation must apply,” he said, adding that the special court was “basically illegal”.

The legal proceedings against Saddam appear to be moving forward, albeit slowly.

On Monday, the special court announced that five former members of Saddam’s regime – including one of his half-brothers – will go on trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed in retaliation for a failed attempt to kill the former dictator.

The announcement marked the first time the special court has issued referrals, similar to indictments, the final step before trials can start. No dates were given. Due to a mandatory waiting period, at least 45 days must pass from Monday’s referral before a trial can begin.

The five include Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti, Saddam’s half-brother, and former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan. The three others were senior Baath Party members.

The tribunal, which is run according to Iraqi laws on criminal procedure, could sentence some of those found guilty to die by hanging or the firing squad.

Getting the proceedings going is not expected to be easy, however.

On December 14, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said trials of the top figures in Saddam’s ousted regime would begin within a week, but no trials have begun.

Other officials have said trials would not even start before 2006 because the Special Tribunal needed more time to train judges and prosecutors and organise stacks of evidence.

Al-Khasawneh said he has not had time to prepare, and claimed that authorities have been blocking his ability to represent Saddam.

He said he was told that the charges against Saddam add up to 36 tons of written material, most of which he said he has not seen.

“We’ve made many applications to meet with our client, but there has been no possibility for that,” he said, adding that a member of the committee met Saddam in November, but that such visits have not been allowed since.

“President Saddam is isolated from the outside world,” he said. “He is in a small cell and not allowed to meet his attorneys or family members, despite repeated requests.

"He doesn’t have TV or radio and he isn’t allowed to read the newspapers. He doesn’t know anything about what is going on.”