Saddam Charged by Iraqi Tribunal

Iraq's Special Tribunal announced on Sunday July 17 that it had filed charges against the country's former leader, Saddam Hussein.  The announcement ends weeks of speculation about whether Saddam would appear as a defendant in the tribunal's first case.  The tribunal said that the trial date could be announced "within days."

The Special Tribunal will hold separate trials for each of the crimes it decides to prosecute -- so Saddam could appear as defendant in several separate cases.  The first trial will relate to events in the town of Dujayl, where an assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982 led to widespread executions and other punishments.

It is thought that Dujayl has been chosen as the tribunal's first case because it is a relatively contained incident where prosecutors have faced a less complex task assembling evidence than will be the case with other charges.

For a detailed report on the tribunal, the evidence gathering process, and the Dujayl incident, see this recent story.

Related Links

Iraqi Special Tribunal

Institute for War and Peace Reporting Iraq Programme

Iraq: State of the Evidence

Human Rights Watch Report

November 2004

Saddam Faces Trial for a Range of Charges

By Paul Garwood

Associated Press, June 6, 2005

(via The Los Angeles Times)

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