Iraqi authorities pressuring appeal court to hang Saddam
Amman (dpa) - The defence team of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein on Thursday accused the Iraqi authorities of attempts to "influence" the decision of the Cassation Court, which was due to examine the legality of the death verdicts passed on the former dictator and two of his top aides in the Dujail case.
The Amman-based panel referred to a "flurry of statements by Iraqi officials over the past few days that involved a new violation of the principles of justice and fair trial."
"All the comments which were carried by news agencies, newspapers and satellite TV stations lead up to the same conclusion that the Cassation Court will confirm the death sentences passed against the President and his comrades," the defence team said in a statement to the media.
The statement also quoted the prosecution of the special Iraqi court which handed the verdicts as saying the sentence of life imprisonment passed on the former Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan would be elevated to the death penalty.
"These statements only mean that the flagrant intervention by the Iraqi authorities in the work of justice continues in an attempt to influence the independence of the Iraqi judiciary," the defence team said.
Saddam and two of his former top aides were sentenced to death on November 5 by the higher Iraqi criminal court which found them guilty for their role in the murder of 148 Iraqi Shiites in the village of Dujail in the wake of an abortive attempt on the life of the former president in 1982.
The verdicts were appealed early in December by the defence panel in accordance with the provisions of the Iraqi law.
The defence panel also on Thursday urged an "immediate intervention" by Arab governments and the concerned international human rights organizations with a view to "stopping the continued violation of basic standards of fair trial" by the Iraqi government.
Saddam's legal team is lead by the Iraqi lawyer Khalil Duleimi and comprises some 20 prominent Arab and non-Arab lawyers, including former US attorney general Ramsey Clark, former French foreign minister Roland Dumas and former Qatari justice minister Najib al- Nuaimi. // © 2006 DPA
- NYC Trial for Accused 'Merchant of Death' Set to Start
- STRATFOR analysis: Iran at a Crossroads
- 80% of U.S. Marines shot in Iraq died because of inadequate body armor
- Top Terrorism Risk list by Maplecroft (198 countries)
- At least five dead in Iraqi 'day of rage' protests
- George W Bush had 'sickening feeling' over WMD lack
- Heavy casualty toll follows series of Baghdad explosions
- Obama to address US on Iraq transition
- US troops in Iraq drop below 50,000
- More U.S. troops in Afghanistan than Iraq
- 10 most important world events of 2005
- The rise and fall of Saddam Hussein
- Iraq: Saddam Hussein and another ex-senior officials sentenced to death by hanging
- Analysis: Black Sea Rivalry
- Report: Saddam Hussein has been executed
- On 31 August Moldova celebrates the Language Day
- Sexual humiliation and torture of female protesters reported
- Saddam Hussein handed over to Iraqi authorities, say lawyers
- Saddam Hussein's execution could be within next 48-36 hours
- Deadly blast at checkpoint near Peshawar