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Saddam trial hits turning point after dramatic evidence
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-03-03 08:57
The trial of Saddam Hussein has reached a turning point after this week's
dramatic hearings, with prosecutors seeking to build up documentary evidence in
a bid to prove that the toppled Iraqi dictator took personal revenge on a
village after escaping assassination there.
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Iraqi shows pictures of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his shop
in Baghdad. The trial of Hussein has reached a turning point after this
week's dramatic hearings, with prosecutors seeking to build up documentary
evidence in a bid to prove that the toppled Iraqi dictator took personal
revenge on a village after escaping assassination
there.[AFP] |
The next hearing, on March 12, will likely involve "the presentation of
additional evidence by the prosecution, possibly with expert witnesses,"
according to US diplomats close to the Iraqi High Tribunal.
Defence lawyers allege some of the prosecution's documents related to the
execution of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail where Saddam survived the
1982 murder plot are forgeries.
Two days of hearings this week saw prosecutors produce documentary evidence
to link Saddam and his seven co-accused to what a US diplomat described as "a
widespread and systematic attack on the citizens of Dujail" which amounts to "a
crime against humanity."
Documents included death certificates signed by a prison doctor for those
hanged.
Others pointed to the gruesome fate of some victims -- 46 of whom were
tortured to death, 10 of whom, under age at the time of sentencing, were hanged
once they were grown up, and four who were simply hanged by mistake.
Following the next hearing, the court is expected to recess for two to four
weeks while the five-judge panel drafts specific charges against Saddam and his
co-accused.
"This is a very important stage in the trial," said Miranda Sissons, an
observer from the International Center for transitional justice.
"The charging documents will specify the level of responsibility of each of
the defendants," she said, adding that "a number of legal experts are currently
concerned about how all the evidence fits together" and how the prosecution
intends to "show the system behind the crime."
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