From the BBC:
Saddam Hussein’s lawyers say they have not yet been given any details of the case against him.
Iraq’s government has said the former leader could go on trial within months over alleged crimes against humanity.
But the lawyers say they have none of the estimated eight million documents relating to the case, and have not been formally told of the charges.
Saddam Hussein has been allowed two meetings with his lawyers since his capture in December 2003.
The complaints from his Jordan-based lawyers cast serious doubts on the claim that his trial could begin on schedule, says the BBC’s John Leyne in Amman.
[…] A spokesman for the legal team, Issam Ghazzawi, said recent pictures of Saddam Hussein in his underwear that appeared in the British Sun newspaper showed that the former Iraqi leader’s basic human rights were being violated.
“You see that his rights are violated as a human being, not only as a president,” Mr Ghazzawi said.
Well, leaving aside the dubious assertion that wearing Hanes briefs somehow rates a violation of one’s “basic human rights,” let me take the unusual step of agreeing with Saddam’s lawyers on the other issue—namely, that they should indeed be made aware of the specific charges leveled against Hussein, and that this should happen in a timely enough fashion that they can pepper their “America lied and the Jews are evil” defense with a series of specifics. Halabja poison gas attack?—funded by the CIA and orchestrated by the Jews in order to foment an uprising. Only Saddam’s firm and benevolent leadership prevented a countrywide civil war. Mass graves filled with Shia women and children shot execution style?—human mules who’d been tapped by the Israelis to move valuable Mesopotamian artifacts into the Kurdish regions, where they would later be smuggled out and then sold to museums on the black market, raising money for the Jews to build weapons that would crush oppressed Palestinian martyrs.
If nothing else, giving Saddam’s lawyers some particulars to riff off of will make for interesting theater down the road.
And then, once all the popcorn is gone and the show comes to a close, the Iraqi government can hang the evil fucker just the same.
This is a chance for the new Iraqi democratic government to show that theyve actually adopted a fair judicial system where even the most heinous criminal gets a fair chance to defend himself. Disclose all of the evidence in discovery. No hint of manipulation … Nothing to worry about.. This murderer isnt going to walk.. Hell, Johnnie Cochran is dead.
Hangin’s too good for ‘im.
Burnin’s too good for ‘im.
‘E should be chopped up into itty-bitty pieces and buried alive!
…
What?
Time to call in Billy Squier.
SW: A sure fire “method” for compliance.
Jeff, did you notice from your quote: ““You see that his rights are violated as a human being, not only as a president,†Mr Ghazzawi said.”
This shows that this “team” is not merely a legal defense team but one making political arguments since they are claiming he has “rights” as a president.
Now, if they had forced him to wear red underwear, like the stuff they found in Noriega’s dresser, that would have been a violation of human rights.
I don’t think they will hang him.
I think he will die from “natural causes” before then.
Dying because of a bullet in your heart is perfectly natural. I don’t know anyone who has survived it.
Which half is canadian?
I’m still wondering if its possible for us to clone Saddam, and then execute a clone for each 10 people had had murdered. And we get to execute each of them in a different way.
We can make a game/reality show out of it-
I hear there are some perfectly good woodchippers gathering dust…
I’d let Wendy’s make chili out of him.
There used to be the three “I”s in court – Irrelevant, Incompetent and Immaterial I believe. Let us hope the Iraqi judges do not let the Saddam trial descend into the charade so many US courts have become. I think a fair trial should take about a week.
I still prefer drawing and quartering.
Ha. Spamword, “suddenly,” as in “Suddenly, I was in four pieces!”
“I think he will die from “natural causes†before then.”
Fair Flower of Southern Womanhood:
Damn, you get NASTY when you’re not on your own blog!
Michael, oh you didn’t know? I have an evil twin that posts here…
Back to Jeff’s point, it is important that Saddam receive the benefit of due process of law, and for reasons that are far more important than “interesting theater down the road.” We will have accomplished little if democracy in Iraq degenerates into the thugocracy of the Shiite plurality. Democracy means nothing if it is not coupled with a respect for the rule of law. Saddam should have the right to know well in advance of the trial the charges against him and the evidence against him, the right to call witnesses in his defense and cross-examine opposing witnesses, the right to an impartial tribunal, the right to insist on competent evidence, the burden of proof on the state, and on and on.
Not that Saddam deserves it. The future of Iraq requires it.
The due process must not be allowed to degenerate into “It all depends what your definition of ‘IS’ is.”
The judge must rule out material not relevant to the charges. The judge must not allow lengthy orations. Give the bastard a fair trial and hang him.
Sounds fair. As long he’s hanged in the end.
Hear, hear.
A fair trial, followed by a first-class hanging.
Dibs on the souvenir program concession. And hot dogs. Gotta have hot dogs.
Spambuster: food
Eight million documents?? Oh, hell, just shoot him.