Western Resistance: Iraq: Trial of Saddam Hussein to be Televised

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October 13, 2005

Iraq: Trial of Saddam Hussein to be Televised

In an article from wikinews.org it is reported that the trial of Saddam Hussein, which will begin on Wednesday October 19, will be shown on television.

Saddam's first charge will be that in 1982 he killed 143 residents of Dujail, after an assassination attempt on his life was made there. 1,500 people inhabitants of the town were also imprisoned and tortured.

Other crimes that will be brought up in the forthcoming trial will be his mortar bombing of the city of Kirkuk, the massacre of 8,000 Barzani, a Kurdish tribal community, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, crimes against secular and religious groups and the forced evacuation of Kurds into Iran.

The national security advisor, Muwaffaq Rubaie has said that the trial will be fair and just, with both a defence counsel and a prosecuting counsel.

Between now and then, there is just the little matter of a referendum on the constitution to deal with. The issue has even threatened to erupt into a potential civil war. In a report from Reuters, the draft constitution has been altered prior to the referendum. The Sunnis, who have threatened to boycott the vote or start war, have been appeased by an amendment which now allows for a review of the constitution by a new parliament next year, a promise that former members of Saddam's Baathist party will not be persecuted, and an agreement that Arabic is the official language of Iraq (even though Kurds have their own language and often speak Farsi).

The amendments have been accepted by all participating parties, and, should the referendum go ahead smoothly, a new Iraqi government will come into being this December.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 13, 2005 6:08 PM