 | First Saddam execution to follow in July. |
BAGHDAD -The first trial of Saddam Hussein could be over by June provided interruptions and delays are kept to a minimum, according to a US legal advisor to the Iraqi tribunal trying the former dictator.
Saddam and other former regime members may then face a raft of other charges of crimes against humanity, likely starting with a bloody campaign against the Kurds between 1987 and 1988, said Regime Crimes Liaison Kevin Dooley. A form of indictment related to the alleged Kurdish massacre will probably be issued in the next two months, but any trial against those accused will only start once the current case is over, he told AFP in an interview.
Dooley, a US prosecutor by trade, heads the so-called Regime Crimes Liaison Office, a Baghdad-based body of legal experts set up by the US government in May 2004 to provide support and advice to the Iraqi High Tribunal.
| Notice, no Carla del Ponte. |
At present, Saddam and seven co-defendants are being tried for the killing of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after a failed assassination attempt in 1982. Despite only convening for seven days since October 19, the court is to start hearing weeks of testimonies from alleged victims and witnesses as well as documentary evidence into the Shiite deaths from January 24.
Once all the material has been presented, the judges presiding over the case will adjourn to draft specific, formal charges against each of the accused, said Dooley, noting that this recess should take a few weeks.
The court will then meet again, with an opportunity for the prosecution and defence to put forward their respective arguments. There will also be a chance for the defendants to speak out. The judges will then take another break before reconvening to render their verdict and -- if the finding is guilty -- pass sentence.
Dooley emphasised he could only speculate on the total time this would take, noting that the process and the court itself were new so anything could happen. In addition, there were added complications such as security concerns. âIf we can minimise the amount of time during those recesses and we can keep the court moving forward when we start those sessions, we are certainly hopeful that the trial will conclude in the May or June time-frame,â he said. âIf there are other delays, it may go until July, who knows,â Dooley said.
If found guilty, Saddam and his co-accused risk the death penalty, but under Iraqi law they will have the opportunity to appeal. There are no clear guidelines about how long the appeal process takes, but if a conviction -- such as capital punishment -- is ultimately upheld it must be carried out within 30 days.
Legal experts note that the appeal stage may be prolonged to let Saddam stand trial for other crimes.
| Don't see the point of that -- let the historians and the forensic pathologists document all the other crimes. |
Evidence is also being gathered about the so-called Anfal campaign of suppression of the Kurds as well as the crushing of a Shiite uprising in March 1991, the apparent removal of an entire population of Iraqâs Marsh Arabs living in southeastern marshlands and the invasion of Kuwait, said Dooley.
Iraqi investigators have spoken to thousands of witnesses and are sifting through millions of documents from the former regime that were taken from government buildings nationwide after the US-led invasion in March 2003. The papers are stored in Doha, Qatar, where they are being translated and a data base of relevant information formed, which helps to establish a chain of command with regard to certain events, Dooley said.
Under Iraqâs inquisitorial rather than adversarial legal system, an investigating judge must gather information about an alleged crime from all parties involved. If he thinks there is enough evidence to charge someone, the judge will make a referral -- a sort of indictment -- to the trial chamber.
Dooley said the Anfal campaign was expected to be next in line among the alleged regime crimes. âGenerally the hope is that it -- the referral -- would be within the next couple of months,â he said, noting that there would, however, be a break after the end of the Dujail trial before any new hearing begins.
Critics, such as Saddamâs defence team, believe the Iraqi High Tribunal lacks legitimacy because it was created with US funds. They also oppose the case being heard in Iraq, saying it would be fairer before an international court such as in The Hague.
| So that Carla could be involved, and Saddam could die of old age in a plush villa. |
Dooley, however, dismissed such concerns, arguing that it was just as legitimate, if not more so, to hold such a trial in the country where the alleged crimes took place as it was to go the UN war crimes tribunal. 
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