The Iraqi parliament is beginning to tire of waiting to try former dictator, Saddam Hussein.
he has been held captive for the last 18 months, the parliament are now to debate a bill to reorganise the US-created court tasked with trying Hussein.
The Deputy Speaker, Hussein Shahristani, has told deputies that the first reading of the draft legislation will take place on July 20.
Parliament wishes to commence proceedings, before the elections in October this year.
Some Kurdish and Shiite MPs have suggested that the fact that the Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) is controlled by the Americans has slowed up the process of bringing Saddam to trial.
The bill is aimed at silencing those who question the authority of the court, which was set up by the former US administrator Paul Bremer.
It seems that the tribunal's 30 investigating judges are inexperienced, and that some are former Baathists including Raed Juhi, the lead judge questioning Saddam.
Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman is quoted as saying:
"It has been pure theater so far. At the moment, it's all in the hands of America..We look at them as criminals who committed crimes against the Iraqi people, while America looks at them as a source of intelligence."
Saddam's lawyers have questioned the court's impartiality and his detention this long without trial.
No comments:
Post a Comment