Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s deposed dictator, was yesterday sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against humanity.
A visibly flustered Saddam shouted “God is great” as chief Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman read out the court’s verdict. He yelled, �Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!”
The deposed Iraqi leader has been standing trial for the deaths of more than 148 Shia Muslim men and boys in reprisal for a 1982 assassination attempt on him in the town of Dujail.
But the United Nations and Amnesty International have separately called on the Iraqi authorities to commute the death sentence to jail terms.
Two of Saddam’s co-defendants, his half-brother and former intelligence chief, Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of the former Revolutionary Court, were also sentenced to death by hanging.
Under the Iraqi law, a death sentence or life imprisonment generates an automatic appeal, delaying any execution by months at least. Saddam had said he�d rather face a firing squad as a member of the military, and not the hangman as a civilian.
However, former Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The trial was characterised by angry exchanges between the judges, defendants and the defence teams.
Before yesterday’s session began, one of Saddam’s lawyers, former US attorney general, Ramsey Clark, was ejected from the courtroom after handing the judge a memorandum in which he called the Saddam trial a travesty.
Saddam also initially refused the chief judge’s order to rise but two bailiffs lifted the former leader to his feet and he remained standing through the sentencing.
Mixed reactions have, however, greeted the court�s verdict.
White House spokesman, Tony Snow, said yesterday was a “good day for the Iraqi people”.
Asked if the US government hoped Saddam would be executed, Snow said, �We don’t hope… We’re not rooting. We’re not holding up score cards. We simply think it’s important that you establish a rule of law where people have their rights protected, where they have rights to appeal, where they have rights to counsel but also where victims of violence have redress.�
Clashes immediately broke out in north Baghdad’s heavily Sunni Azamiya district where police battled men with machine guns.
In Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, about 2,000 people defied a curfew and carried pictures of the former leader through the streets chanting anti-US war songs.
In anticipation of a violent breakout, the Iraqi government, two days ago, had announced an indefinite and total curfew, covering wide areas of the country and including the capital, Baghdad, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he hoped Saddam Hussein would get �what he deserved�.
According to Maliki, �We hope that the verdict will give this man what he deserves for the crimes he committed against the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people will express their happiness in a way they see fit and we will call on the Iraqi people to remain calm and express their happiness in a way that does not risk their lives.�
But reacting to the verdict yesterday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, in a television broadcast to Iraqi people said Saddam was “facing the punishment he deserves. This is the fate of all those who violated the sanctity of the citizens and shed the honest blood.
�This is the disgraceful end to the person who brought ordeals, pains and reckless wars to this country. I say to all deluded remnants of the previous regime: The period of Saddam and his party is gone, as did other dictators like Mussolini and Hitler,� said al-Maliki, who was forced into exile during Saddam’s rule.
Similarly, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the most powerful Shia Islamist bloc in the government, lauded the verdict but said now was the time for Iraqis to unite, adding that “What happened to him is a lesson for everyone – all tyrants will get what they deserve at the hands of those who suffer injustice”.
Khalil al-Dulaimi, Saddam’s chief lawyer said, �Since day one, we said the trial was politically motivated 100 percent and that it’s completely illegal. The defense voice was not allowed to be heard at all.�
In some quarters however, the fairness of the trial and verdict have been called to question.
According to Malcolm Smart, Amnesty’s director of the Middle East and North Africa, the trial was deeply flawed.
�This trial should have been a major contribution towards establishing justice and the rule of law in Iraq, and in ensuring truth and accountability for the massive human rights violations perpetrated by Saddam Hussein’s rule.
�In practice, it has been a shabby affair, marred by serious flaws that call into question the capacity of the tribunal, as currently established, to administer justice fairly, in conformity with international standards.”
Iraq’s former UN ambassador Mohammed Aldouri, who is now on exile in the United Arab Emirates described the verdict thus: �This is a political court, not a judicial court. Iraq is under occupation. The conflict of interest is clear and obvious. You put your enemy in jail and try him. What is the meaning of that? It is illegal under international law.�
The UK government welcomed the conviction of the former Iraqi President, as Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said all the defendants were being held to account for their crimes.
Beckett said: “I welcome that Saddam Hussein and the other defendants have faced justice and have been held to account for their crimes. Appalling crimes were committed by Saddam Hussein’s regime. It is right that those accused of such crimes against the Iraqi people should face Iraqi justice. Today’s verdict and sentences by the Iraqi Higher Tribunal come at the end of a trial during which evidence has been offered and challenged in the full glare of media scrutiny.”
But Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, said, �I think the trial was fair. Those people had the full right to say what they intended. I must respect the independence of the Iraqi judiciary. Until the end I must be silent…because my comments could affect the situation.�
Iraqi Parliament Deputy Speaker Halid Al Attiyah said, �We expected the maximum penalty against the criminal Saddam Hussein and his henchmen because they committed horrible crimes against the Iraqi people, the Arabs, Muslims and the entire international community. Because of this, we are not surprised at this verdict, quite the contrary; this verdict was a long time in coming.�
According US Ambassador to Iraq, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, �Today is an important milestone for Iraq as the country takes another major step forward in the building of a free society based on the rule of law. Although the Iraqis may face difficult days in the coming weeks, closing the book on Saddam and his regime is an opportunity to unite and build a better future.�
Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said, �The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the death sentence. Even if Saddam and his accomplices are the agents who carried out these crimes, we cannot forget the Western protectors of Saddam who by supporting him prepared the ground for the execution of his crimes.�
Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said, � Saddam Hussein, like any other citizen or political leader, has to answer for his actions, for what he has done in his government task. It is well known that for a long time the EU has not been in favour of the death penalty. Obviously it is a penalty, which is not provided for, in any legal system in the EU or, of course, in our country.�
The French government also lauded the judgment and according to the French Foreign Minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy �France notes the sentence made by the Iraqi court at the end of the Saddam Hussein trial. This decision belongs to the Iraqi people. In the climate of violence Iraq is currently experiencing, I hope this decision will not lead to new tensions and that the Iraqis will show restraint, whatever community they belong to.�
The Irish government however opposed the death sentence though it welcomed the end of the trial.
According to an official statement from the Irish government, �The minister welcomes the end of this long legal process. Ireland and its EU partners have made it clear in the past to Iraqi authorities that we are opposed to courts applying the death sentence. Ireland is also opposed to it being applied as a penalty in this case.�
Nov62006