Hussein Death Penalty Is Formally Appealed
Published Mon, Dec 4 2006 2:01 PM
Technorati Tags: News and Politics, War on Terror
The Washington Post reports on Saddam Hussein's mandatory appeal of his death sentence:
BAGHDAD, Dec. 3 -- Attorneys for former president Saddam Hussein on Sunday formally appealed his death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiite men and boys from the town of Dujail in the 1980s, a spokesman for the Iraqi High Tribunal said.
The case will now go to a higher court, which can rule on it at any time. If the court upholds Hussein's conviction, his execution, by hanging, must occur within 30 days, according to Iraqi law.
Raid Juhi, spokesman for the tribunal, said Sunday that two of Hussein's attorneys had submitted the appeal papers.
Hussein was convicted on Nov. 5 of crimes against humanity for the Dujail killings, which took place after an attempt on his life in 1982. Hussein and two of his seven co-defendants, including his half brother, were sentenced to death. Four defendants received prison terms ranging from 15 years to life, and an eighth was acquitted.
Under Iraqi law, death sentences are automatically appealed within 10 days. But defense lawyers must still file a formal appeal within 30 days of the verdict.
A recent report by New York-based Human Rights Watch concluded that Hussein's trial was so seriously flawed that the verdict could be called into question.
Hussein is currently on trial in another case, involving the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s.
Human Rights Watch's conclusion is laughable. If the trial was flawed it was flawed due to grandstanding by Saddam Hussein and his lawyers like Ramsey Clark, who tried to make the trial a mockery and failed to present any evidence of value in his defense. Saddam was convicted on his own words and on written evidence in his own hand.
The other half of the article is on completely unrelated news...
Linked at Sister Toldjah.
Trackback URI for this post: http://perrinelson.com/track.aspx?postid=246
Permalink URI for this post: http://perrinelson.com/2006/12/4/246.aspx
Subscribe to this entry's
comment feed. (Atom)
Comments to this entry are closed.