Iraq's tribunal lays first charges against Saddam
BAGHDAD, Sunday (Reuters)
Iraq's special tribunal has laid the first charges against Saddam
Hussein for crimes committed under the former president's rule.
The tribunal's chief investigating judge told a news conference in
Baghdad on Sunday Saddam had been charged along with three others in
connection with the killing of Shi'ite Muslims in the village of Dujail,
north of Baghdad, in 1982.
The judge, Raed Jouhi, said court proceedings against Saddam and the
others could begin "within days". He did not say when the charges had
been made.
According to Iraq's justice system there must be at least 45 days
between charges being brought and a trial beginning.
Diplomatic sources in Baghdad said Jouhi was probably referring to
pre-trial motions rather than the trial itself when he referred to
proceedings beginning within days.
The other defendants are Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother and
former head of Iraq's intelligence service; Taha Yasin Ramadan, a former
deputy prime minister; and Awad Hamad al-Bander, former chief judge of
Saddam's Revolutionary Court. |