Iraq: Saddam Hussein and another ex-senior officials sentenced to death by hanging


Saddam Hussein and another ex-senior officials were convicted on Sunday and sentenced to death by hanging. They were found guilty of crimes against humanity that includes acts of murder, forcible deportation, wrongful imprisonment, torture, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts. In 1982, Sadam and his regime killed 148 people in a single Shiite town of Dujayl.

Saddam, 69, shouted "God is great!" as the judge pronounced the verdict.

Two other former officials were sentenced to death by hanging: Awad Hamed Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, which issued death sentences against Dujayl residents; and Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, intelligence chief at time of Dujayl killings and Saddam's half-brother. Former Vice President, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was sentenced to life in prison for murder and Hussein's three codefendants from the Baath Party in Dujayl region were sentenced to 15 years for murder and torture (Abdullah Kadhem Ruwayyid, Ali Dayim Ali, and Mizhar Abdullah Ruwayyid). The court acquitted Mohammed Azzawi Ali due to insufficient evidence.

In Iraq, capital and life sentences are automatically appealed and the court will begin hearings within a month of the sentence. Then, the court could deliberate for months or years. After the final appeal is exhausted, sentences should be carried out within a month.



 
Iraqis celebrate the death sentence verdict for former leader Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City. (Karim Kadim / AP)

Subscribe to: RSS, Email

Comments