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Saddam defense team kept in the dark Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO660102.htmhttp://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO660102.htm
Saddam defence team kept in the dark - chief lawyer
16 Jun 2005 17:49:10 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Ibon Villelabeitia
AMMAN, June 16 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer on Thursday accused the Iraqi Special Tribunal and United States of deliberately keeping his team in the dark by ignoring repeated requests for legal documents.
Ziad Khasawneh also told Reuters in an interview that he was unaware until the last minute that Saddam was to be questioned by a war crimes judge about killings of Shi'ite villagers.
Khasawneh, the Jordanian lawyer who heads the Amman-based Committee for the Defence of Saddam Hussein, made his comments three days after Saddam appeared on camera being questioned by a judge about the killing of villagers in 1982.
In the film, aired on Monday, Saddam answered questions over his role in the killings in Dujail, a crime that pales compared with some accusations against him but a case Iraq sees as a test case for a swift trial.
In the tape several of Saddam's lieutenants are seen talking to the judge about separate cases.
"My colleague Khalil (al-Dulaimi) had an appointment to meet the leaders (Saddam and his lieutenants) but was surprised because there was an investigation (about Dujail) taking place," he told Reuters in Amman.
"We do not acknowledge any of the procedures taken by this court. Thus far the court has not allowed us to get any legal documents from the president and his associates," he said.
Iraq's government, facing a stiff insurgency, has said it wants to try Saddam within months -- a move that would appear popular among violence-weary Iraqis.
The U.S. and other governments say they want a fair trial, and tribunal officials have insisted they would not be rushed.
"LAWYERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD"
Khasawneh, a short, burly man who peppers his discourse with anti-American diatribes and calls Saddam "an Arab nationalist," said Iraq's government had already decided to condemn the former leader before a trial.
"If the trial goes on it will be comical because the results are already known."
The Dujail killings were apparent revenge executions of dozens of men -- by some accounts over 140 -- after an attempt on Saddam's life.
Khasawneh said Saddam has told his lawyers he is innocent of all the crimes, but Khasawneh added: "It is only normal that any president in the world who comes under an assassination attempt ... punishes those involved."
The committee says it is supported by Saddam's family and "2,500 lawyers from around the world" are volunteers, including U.S. civil rights lawyer Ramsey Clarke and a daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Since there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- Washington's main justification to invade the oil-rich Arab country -- Khasawneh said Saddam was still the president of Iraq, meaning immune from prosecution.
"The legitimate president of Iraq is Saddam Hussein."
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