BAGHDAD, 14 October 2005 — Saddam Hussein’s trial will begin in six days and will be televised, the court set up to try him confirmed yesterday, but beyond the date and the general charges much surrounding the process remained shrouded in doubt.
Investigative judge Raid Jouhi, who gathered the evidence against Saddam for the trial, tried to settle some of those doubts at a news conference yesterday. But his short responses to a barrage of questions often created more uncertainty.
What is clear so far is that Saddam and seven others will appear in Court 1 of Iraq’s special tribunal, inside Baghdad’s fortress-like Green Zone, on Oct. 19 to face a five-member panel of judges and be tried for crimes against humanity.
There had been doubt about whether Saddam and the others would appear in court, but Jouhi said the defendants were expected to hear the charges against them in person.
The men are accused of premeditated murder in the deaths of more than 140 Shiite men from the village of Dujail, outside Baghdad, following a failed attempt on Saddam’s life in 1982.
Sources close to the tribunal have previously said that Saddam and his co-defendants could face the death penalty if found guilty. But Jouhi, who is also spokesman for the tribunal, said a guilty sentence might carry life in prison or death.
“It is an Iraqi court and it will be subject entirely to Iraqi laws,” he said. “Article 405 of the Iraqi criminal code, which relates to premeditated murder, makes provision for life in prison or for execution if the defendant is found guilty.” Iraqi government officials have in the past left little doubt that they expect Saddam to be put to death, in line with the wishes of millions of Iraqis who suffered under his rule for almost three decades.
It was notable during yesterday’s news conference that almost all questions put to Jouhi by Iraqi journalists concerned the possible death penalty. One even asked if a death sentence might not be handed down in the first court session.
Another asked if Saddam, who is 67, might be spared execution if a conviction doesn’t come until after he has turned 70, since under Iraqi law a death sentence cannot be carried out on someone older than 70. Jouhi did not clarify.
Once the trial opens, Saddam’s lawyer is expected to seek an adjournment, arguing he has not had enough time to study the evidence against his client.
He has also indicated that he will question the legitimacy of the court, set up in 2003 under the US occupation.
Jouhi said defense attorneys had been given sufficient time under Iraqi law to study the evidence, but also left open the possibility of an adjournment, a move many expect to take place.
“The court can postpone the proceedings it if wants. It is a purely legal decision that is up to the court,” he said.
The trial is expected to be televised, but doubt remains about whether it will be shown live. Jouhi said it would be “public,” although he said the court could always decide to make parts of it secret as well.
One major outstanding issue less than a week before the trial starts is whether new laws governing the special tribunal, passed by Iraq’s parliament but not yet published in the official government gazette, will be published before Oct. 19.
If they are, it could force several changes to the tribunal’s name and its authority — since the original statues were written with US assistance under occupation — and to some of rules regarding sentencing.
For example, one rule in the new statutes, according to sources close to the tribunal, calls for any death sentence to be carried out within 30 days of all appeals being exhausted.
That could mean that Saddam, if found guilty in the Dujail case, could be put to death before he is tried for any of the other crimes with which he is expected soon to be charged.
Jouhi would not comment directly on the new statutes, saying only that the court was so far acting in accordance with Iraqi law.
