Saddam goes on trial in Baghdad (BBC World)

[Mokito]

Saddam Hussein is going on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.

The former Iraqi leader, along with seven associates, is charged with ordering the killing of 143 Shia men in 1982 in Dujail.

...

Public excluded

The trial is being presided over by five judges.

It had been suggested that their identities and backgrounds would be kept secret for their own protection, but the lead judge has now been named as Rizgar Mohammed Amin, an ethnic Kurd in his late 40s from the northern city of Sulaimaniya.

...

A Human Rights Watch report says the Iraqi Special Tribunal "runs the risk of violating international standards for fair trials".

All information from the trial comes with a 20 minute delay, to paraphrase the anchor on BBC World; 'to edit possible embarrassing remarks from Saddam Hussein toward the coalition troops'.


Saddam goes on trial in Baghdad

edited for link and source.

[maddezmom]

1. wow, I didn't realize that was the reason for the time delay

interesting

[Oversea Visitor]

2. Kangaroo court

with a sideshow thrown in sponsored by the USA.
Why not the Hague you cowards.

[Missy M]

5. Sorry, we posted at the same time. I agree the Hague is where...

it should be.

[Oversea Visitor]

6. Hehe

no problem hehe.

[ikri]

12. Why not the Hague? Simple..

It's safer to put him on trial and execute him when he's found guilty for ordering the deaths of a number of people in retaliation for an assassination attempt - a murder investigation rather than a war crime or crime against humanity.

If he were to go on trial at the Hague for gassing the Kurds there's the chance that:
1. It wasn't actually an Iraqi shell but an Iranian one.
or
2. He might have kept the receipts.

I can just imagine how pleased the Kurds would be to hear how thousands of them were gassed using US supplied weapons. Right now they're pretty much the only faction in Iraq who aren't trying to blow up every US serviceman.

It's a show trial, nothing more. Try him quick, find him guilty, refuse any appeals and execute him fast to ensure that no embarrassing details come out during any trial.

[rfkrfk]

22. has Saddam be indicted, by the ICC at the Hague? n/t

[Missy M]

3. So the Kangaroo Court begins.

[KoKo]

4. I just got up and three channels have the Saddam "so called trial" on

this morning. There's nothing there to watch....it has a translator and sound delay, and bad video and it's boring. Who is going to watch this all day. It's hardly the O.J. trial as much as they want to push it to be "exciting."

Anyone think the cables are going to have to can this after one day because no one's going to bother to watch it?

[pnorman]

7. "'to edit possible embarrassing remarks from Saddam Hussein ..."

Can you supply an online source from which that's paraphrased?

pnorman

[Mokito]

9. Heard that on television,

that's why I didn't include it in the excerpt-frame, but I'll see if there is an online source.

[pnorman]

11. Thanks, I'd greatly appreciate i t.

I make this sort of request fairly frequently here on DU. But I sincerely hope it's realized that I'm NOT questioning anyone's veracity. It's just that I present these things in an occasionally "hostile" environment, and it's almost always challenged. (Naturally, THEY take deep offence whenever I challenge THEIR totally unsubstantiated assertions).

pnorman
PS: there's NO TV watching at this end. If I can't find it on the web, I can't find it.

[rfkrfk]

8. what are Democratic Party leaders saying about the legitimacy

of this 'trial"?

[LynnTheDem]

10. 'to edit possible embarrassing remarks from Saddam Hussein..."

At least BBC has the guts to tell it like it is.

[Island Blue]

13. I think it's funny that all the major networks

have the "trial" billed as BREAKING NEWS. How exactly is this breaking news? Didn't we kinda sorta know it was going to happen? More to the point, didn't we kinda sorta know it was going to happen at a time when Chimpy & Co. needed to divert people's attention away rom reality?

[Stockholm]

14. This "trial" has nothing to do with justice

If justice is what they are after they should conduct the trial in Deen Haag.

Holding this mock trial before rule of law is reinstated in Iraq is just another perverse example of victor's justice.

Iraq needs a SA-style truth and reconciliation process more than a Broadway trial.

[cal04]

15. Saddam Pleads Not Guilty in Massacre,US officials named the Iraqi judge

(How convenient for the US)

Saddam Pleads Not Guilty in Massacre Trial

US officials named the Iraqi judge who will preside over the US-backed court shortly before the start of proceedings.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051019/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1486159.ht...

[enigma000]

16. Judges trained in Britain

The judges who will begin trying Saddam Hussein tomorrow have been secretly trained in Britain in recent months, it emerged yesterday.

The International Bar Association confirmed that it had helped to train the 20 Iraqi judges who make up the Special Tribunal, including the five sitting for Saddam’s trial. Training was also held for 23 prosecutors
-snip-
The training, run by judges and lawyers from countries including Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, and America, was aimed at explaining international criminal law and how it could be seen in the context of the civil code system of criminal law in Iraq.


Try this Link:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1830487,00 ...

[Stockholm]

21. The Swedish representative was all over the news tonight

Mr. Hans Corell, who previously held the position of Under-Secretary-General of Legal Affairs at the UN, mentioned two points that were stressed during the training of the Iraqi judges.

1. The trial and the work of the judges will be scrutinized and judged by history.

2. The judges must bee free from possible influence from the US.

He originally urged the case to be brought to Hague but justified his participation in the process with "not wanting to abandon the Iraqis" in the important process of re-establishing the rule of law. Some of the participants in the program were judges during the Saddam dictatorship and he drew parallels to the post-WWII period in Germany

BTW he did not support the war as such and is against the death penalty http://www.runic-europe.org/englishevents/corellarticle...

[maxrandb]

17. Sorry Chimpy, Even this can't save your A$$

That being said, I know there is a special place in hell for people like Saddam. Hopefully, he'll share a spot with Rush Limbaugh.

Rush may not have killed as many people as Saddam, but he's definitely done more damage to America than Saddam could ever dream of.

[MaineDem]

18. What's the time difference from here to Iraq? 8 hours or so?

Why is this on at this time of day?

Why is this during Ramadan?

Is this trial for show here in the West or for the Iraqi people?

Pretty easy to figure that one out, no?

[underpants]

19. (in the edge of my seat) gee I wonder how it will end???

Waiting waiting.....

[confludemocrat]

20. ILLEGITIMATE "trial" tailored to hide US complicity in his bigger crimes

by restricting the charges to a single incident in Iraq. What a travesty.