Najib al-Nawimi, a defence lawyer for Saddam Hussein, has written to the Secretary General of The UN Kofi Annan asking for the trial to be moved to The Hague.
He additionally asked that the Iraqi judges replaced by foreign ones.
Quote:
"We submit to you our request for your involvement and your good office in the present circumstances to call upon the US authority and the present government of Iraq to review the legal status of the present court and to reallocate the present court outside Iraq, i.e. The Hague, Netherlands."
He asked for the court to be given "independent and impartial international judges", and for Saddam and his co-defendants to be treated as prisoners of war.
Nawimi noted that prosecutors "did not hand over to the defence team a copy of the accusation list, neither granted us a proper access to our clients nor to have sufficient time as we had requested (for) three months,".
H also vented his worries over the safety of the defence team, in the light of the murder of Saadun Janabi.
Quote:
"We are in a very dangerous situation where the present Iraqi government has no control over our security to attend and participate in such a trial."
Friday, October 28, 2005
Oil For Food Scandal
It seems that over 2000 international companies, and many well known politicians, had a hand in illegally supporting Saddam Hussein.
This is the conclusion of the final report on the UN oil-for-food programme.
The report runs to 623 pages, and exposes the global scam that allegedly involved such companies as DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
The report shows that the $64BN programme was used by Saddam to prop up his regime, at the expense of his own people.
The UN and member countries of the UN are blamed for allowing this corruption to go unchecked for years.
Paul Volcker, a former US Federal Reserve chairman who led the investigation, said that the report underscored the urgent need to reform the United Nations.
Companies from Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, Belarus, Syria, Canada and many other places paid illegal kickbacks. Many businesses in the developing world made large payments to get humanitarian contracts.
The question is, will these people be standing trial with Saddam?
I won't be holding my breath.
This is the conclusion of the final report on the UN oil-for-food programme.
The report runs to 623 pages, and exposes the global scam that allegedly involved such companies as DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
The report shows that the $64BN programme was used by Saddam to prop up his regime, at the expense of his own people.
The UN and member countries of the UN are blamed for allowing this corruption to go unchecked for years.
Paul Volcker, a former US Federal Reserve chairman who led the investigation, said that the report underscored the urgent need to reform the United Nations.
Companies from Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, Belarus, Syria, Canada and many other places paid illegal kickbacks. Many businesses in the developing world made large payments to get humanitarian contracts.
The question is, will these people be standing trial with Saddam?
I won't be holding my breath.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Lawyers Stop Work
The lawyers acting for Saddam Hussein have stopped working with the Iraqi court hearing the case, in response to the murder of one of their colleagues.
The lawyers demand that the Iraqi government provide them with 15 bodyguards each.
Apparently, both sides in the dispute are now negotiating terms that will satisfy both the court and the defence team.
The lawyers also claimed that the rights of Saddam, and his seven co-defendants, were being violated. Something I am sure that Saddam never worried about, when he was in charge of the "justice system".
Part of the reason for this "downing of tools", aside from fear for their lives, may be a tactical ploy; designed to delay the trial for as long as possible, until Iraq is involved in a fully fledged civil war.
That being the case, holding the trial would be all but impossible.
The lawyers demand that the Iraqi government provide them with 15 bodyguards each.
Apparently, both sides in the dispute are now negotiating terms that will satisfy both the court and the defence team.
The lawyers also claimed that the rights of Saddam, and his seven co-defendants, were being violated. Something I am sure that Saddam never worried about, when he was in charge of the "justice system".
Part of the reason for this "downing of tools", aside from fear for their lives, may be a tactical ploy; designed to delay the trial for as long as possible, until Iraq is involved in a fully fledged civil war.
That being the case, holding the trial would be all but impossible.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
UN Action Sought
Defence lawyers in the trial of Saddam Hussein have appealed for UN protection, in the wake of the murder of Saadun Janabi and for a UN investigation into the murder.
They have made a direct written appeal to UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
The letter was signed by; former Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella, former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, French former foreign minister Roland Dumas and former US attorney general Ramsey Clark.
The letter states that the failure of US and Iraqi officials "to provide protection to the defense and access to the defendants requires the transfer of any trials to a legal international forum if there is to be fairness in appearance and fact."
A British based lawyer on Saddam's team, Abdul Haq Al-Ani, has told the BBC that the court's jurisdiction must be dealt with before the trial continues.
In a rather bizarre piece of grandstanding Saleh Armuti, another lawyer working for Saddam, said that he wants to put George Bush on trial "at the same time as the fake trial takes place in Iraq."
No doubt this gives him some free publicity, but it hardly adds credibility to his defence case.
They have made a direct written appeal to UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
The letter was signed by; former Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella, former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, French former foreign minister Roland Dumas and former US attorney general Ramsey Clark.
The letter states that the failure of US and Iraqi officials "to provide protection to the defense and access to the defendants requires the transfer of any trials to a legal international forum if there is to be fairness in appearance and fact."
A British based lawyer on Saddam's team, Abdul Haq Al-Ani, has told the BBC that the court's jurisdiction must be dealt with before the trial continues.
In a rather bizarre piece of grandstanding Saleh Armuti, another lawyer working for Saddam, said that he wants to put George Bush on trial "at the same time as the fake trial takes place in Iraq."
No doubt this gives him some free publicity, but it hardly adds credibility to his defence case.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Witness Testifies
Wadaah al-Sheikh, a former Iraqi intelligence officer, gave testimony yesterday in the trial of Saddam Hussein from his sick bed in hospital.
Sheikh has cancer, and was a senior officer in the investigations and evidence unit at the Hakmiya intelligence building in Baghdad in 1982.
Defence lawyers, fearful for their lives following the murder of one of their colleagues Saadoun Janabi, refused to attend the testimony.
It is clear that safety of all parties in this trial will have to be guaranteed, if the trial and its outcome is to be seen to be fair and above reproach.
Sheikh has cancer, and was a senior officer in the investigations and evidence unit at the Hakmiya intelligence building in Baghdad in 1982.
Defence lawyers, fearful for their lives following the murder of one of their colleagues Saadoun Janabi, refused to attend the testimony.
It is clear that safety of all parties in this trial will have to be guaranteed, if the trial and its outcome is to be seen to be fair and above reproach.
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