Another Defence Lawyer Killed

It seems that working as a defence lawyer in the Saddam Hussein trial is not a safe occupation.

Adel al-Zubeidi, who was representing former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, was shot to death and attorney Thamir al-Khuzaie was wounded in an ambush by 3 gunmen in a speeding car yesterday.

This is the second assassination of a lawyer associated with the trial, Saadoun al-Janabi was abducted and killed on 20th October. The defence team were already worried about their security, and had announced that they would not cooperate with the special court trying Saddam until security was assured.

Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, blamed the government for Tuesday's attack; he claimed that the assassins had used government vehicles.

Quote:

"The aim of these organized attacks is to scare Arab and foreign lawyers. We call upon the international community, on top of them the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to send an investigative committee because the situation is unbearable."

He has requested that Saddam and his colleagues be moved to a neutral country.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director of Human Rights Watch, said that Iraqi government needs "to reassess whether the conditions guaranteeing rights of every defendant exist."

Adding:

"It is clear that whatever the government is doing is not working and is not adequate. They have to go back and figure out how to create conditions necessary for a fair trail, above all the safety of the defense team."

It is now being questioned as to whether the trial will resume on 28th November, as had been originally planned.