BAGHDAD, 19 October 2005 — The lawyer for Saddam Hussein said yesterday he will ask a tribunal for a three-month adjournment of the former Iraqi dictator’s trial for a 1982 massacre and will challenge the court’s competence to hear the case.
Saddam and seven senior members of his 23-year regime go on trial today to face charges they ordered the killings of nearly 150 people from the mainly Shiite town of Dujail following a failed attempt on Saddam’s life.
Khalil Al-Duleimi told The Associated Press he would ask during the opening session for more time to prepare Saddam’s defense and arrange for Arab and Western lawyers to join him in the defense team.
Duleimi met with Saddam for 90 minutes yesterday at a location other than the usual place of detention for the ousted Iraqi leader. Duleimi would not elaborate.
Saddam’s location has been kept secret since his capture by American troops in December 2003, but it is believed that he has been held at a US facility at Baghdad International Airport.
“His morale is very, very, very high and he is very optimistic and confident of his innocence, although the court is... unjust,” Duleimi told The Associated Press.
“We will dispute the legitimacy of the court as we’ve been doing every day. We will claim it is unconstitutional and not competent to try the legitimate president of Iraq,” Duleimi said.
The court is expected to grant an adjournment if the defense asks for one, though it is not known how long it would be, court officials have said.
If convicted, Saddam and his co-defendants could face the death penalty, but they could appeal before another chamber of the special tribunal set up to try the former leader and officials from his ousted regime.
Meanwhile, the first bags full of vote counts from Iraq’s provinces arrived in the capital for tabulation, but delays from other areas mean a final result in the country’s landmark referendum may not be known until the end of the week, election officials said.
Complicating the count is the need to audit results that have raised eyebrows because they show an unexpectedly high number of “yes” votes, raising questions of irregularities. Two crucial provinces that could determine the outcome are apparently among the regions that need investigation.
The audit comes as Sunni Arab leaders who oppose the charter are claiming voting was fixed in the two key provinces — Ninevah and Diyala — and elsewhere to swing them to a “yes.”
