Saddam's trial in crisis as defense team withdraw
Iraq, Politics, 11/14/2005

Some 1100 Iraqi male and female lawyers withdrew from the defense lawyers team of the toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and decided to abstain from work in protest of the killing of another colleague for them; the second within weeks.

This was expressed in a statement by the commission in which it said that "due to the recent developments in the liquidation and execution of lawyers, members of the defendant commission who practice their work independently, some 1100 lawyers announced their withdrawal from the defense team and abstaining from work."

The statement of the defense team mentioned seven reasons for the withdrawal of the lawyers, including "liquidating and executing lawyers by known sides and before the eyes of the Iraqis, the Arabs and the world, not responding to the demands of the defense team to ensure protection for the lawyers and their families." The statement added that the "Iraqi people, the Arabs and the international commissions saw the killing and the execution of lawyers, standstill."

Among the other reasons for the withdrawal of the lawyers from the defendant commission is "the lack of responce to sending an independent international committee to investigate in the series of killings of the lawyers and bringing the criminals to justice," stressing that suspending work in the court has been in effect since October 20th.

Following the killing of Adel Muhammad Abbas, the lawyer of Taha Yassin Ramadan, the toppled Iraqi vice president and the wounding of his colleague Thamer Hammoud Hadi, the lawyer of Barazan al-Takriti, brother of Saddam Hussein, last Tuesday, the defense team called on the international community to denounce the "supreme Iraqi criminal court " as an illegitimate court.

In its statement, the defense lawyers considered that the "date of November 28, the second session for Saddam's trial, is considered illegitimate because of the existence of legal justifications that prevents the attendance of the lawyers to the trial."

The New York Times reported yesterday that "The court is ready to appoint a new team if defense lawyers fail to appear," said Raid Juhi, a judge on the special tribunal trying Saddam Hussein, which may delegitimize the whole trial process if these new lawyers get rejected by Hussein as his defense lawyers.

Previous Stories:
  Dissolved Baath party in Iraq announces death of Ezzat al-Douri   (11/12/2005)
  Second defense lawyer of Saddam Hussein killed   (11/9/2005)
  Defense lawyer for Saddam aide assassinated   (10/22/2005)

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