Saddam GUILTY: Crimes Against Humanity/ Sentence: DEATH
Iraqi Tribunal Sentences Saddam to Hang
BAGHDAD, Iraq- Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced Sunday to hang for crimes against humanity in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shiite town, as the ousted leader, trembling and defiant, shouted "God is great!"
As he, his half brother and another senior official in his regime were convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal, Saddam yelled out, "Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!" Later, his lawyer said the former dictator had called on Iraqis to reject sectarian violence and refrain from revenge against U.S. forces.
The trial brought Saddam and his co-defendants before their accusers in what was one of the most highly publicized and heavily reported trials of its kind since the Nuremberg tribunals for members of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime and its slaughter of 6 million Jews in the World War II Holocaust
"The verdict placed on the heads of the former regime does not represent a verdict for any one person. It is a verdict on a whole dark era that has was unmatched in Iraq's history," said Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shiite prime minister.
Some feared the court decision could exacerbate the sectarian violence that has pushed the country to the brink of civil war, after a trial that stretched over nine months in 39 sessions and ended nearly 3 1/2 months ago. The verdict came two days before midterm elections in the United States widely seen as a referendum on the Bush administration's policy in Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials have denied the timing was deliberate.
Iraqis "are the ones who conducted the trial. The Iraqi judges are the ones who spent all the time pouring over the evidence. ... It's important to give them credit for running their own government," said Tony Snow, the president's spokesman.
In north Baghdad's heavily Sunni Azamiyah district, clashes broke out between police and gunmen. Elsewhere in the capital, celebratory gunfire rang out.
"This government will be responsible for the consequences, with the deaths of hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands, whose blood will be shed," Salih al-Mutlaq, a Sunni political leader, told the Al-Arabiya satellite television station.
Saddam and his seven co-defendants were on trial for a wave of revenge killings carried out in the city of Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt on the former dictator. Al-Maliki's Islamic Dawa party, then an underground opposition, has claimed responsibility for organizing the attempt on Saddam's life.
In the streets of Dujail, people celebrated and burned pictures of their former tormentor as the verdict was read.
Saddam's chief lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi condemned the trial as a "farce," claiming the verdict was planned. He said defense attorneys would appeal within 30 days.
The death sentences automatically go to a nine-judge appeals panel, which has unlimited time to review the case. If the verdicts and sentences are upheld, the executions must be carried out within 30 days.
During Sunday's hearing, Saddam initially refused the chief judge's order to rise; two bailiffs pulled the ousted ruler to his feet and he remained standing through the sentencing, sometimes wagging his finger at the judge.
Before the session began, one of Saddam's lawyers, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, was ejected from the courtroom after handing the judge a memorandum in which he called the trial a travesty.
Chief Judge Raouf Abdul-Rahman pointed to Clark and said in English, "Get out."
In addition to the former Iraqi dictator and Barzan Ibrahim, his former intelligence chief and half brother, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted and sentenced Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the head of Iraq's former Revolutionary Court, to death by hanging. Iraq's former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Three defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison for torture and premeditated murder. Abdullah Kazim Ruwayyid and his son Mizhar Abdullah Ruwayyid were party officials Dujail, along with Ali Dayih Ali. They were believed responsible for the Dujail arrests.
Mohammed Azawi Ali, a former Dujail Baath Party official, was acquitted for lack of evidence and immediately freed.
He faces additional charges in a separate case over an alleged massacre of Kurdish civilians - a trial that will continue while appeals are pending.
The guilty verdict is likely to enrage hard-liners among Saddam's fellow Sunnis, who made up the bulk of the former ruling class. The country's majority Shiites were persecuted under the former leader but now largely control the government.
Al-Dulaimi, Saddam's lawyer, told AP his client called on Iraqis to reject sectarian violence and called on them to refrain from taking revenge on U.S. invaders.
"His message to the Iraqi people was 'pardon and do not take revenge on the invading nations and their people'," al-Dulaimi said, quoting Saddam. "The president also asked his countrymen to 'unify in the face of sectarian strife.'"
In Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, 1,000 people defied the curfew and carried pictures of the city's favorite son through the streets. Some declared the court a product of the U.S. "occupation forces" and condemned the verdict.
"By our souls, by our blood we sacrifice for you Saddam" and "Saddam your name shakes America."
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad issued a statement saying the verdicts "demonstrate the commitment of the Iraqi people to hold them (Saddam and his co-defendants) accountable."
"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," Khalilzad said.
Two U.S. officials who worked as advisers to the court on matters of international judicial procedures said Saddam's repeated outbursts during the trial may have played a key part in his conviction.
They cited his admission in a March 1 hearing that he had ordered the trial of 148 Shiites who were eventually executed, insisting that doing so was legal because they were suspected in the assassination attempt against him. "Where is the crime? Where is the crime?" he asked, standing before the panel of five judges.
........................Iraqi's Rejoice At Verdict
Later in the same session, he argued that he was in charge and he alone must be tried. His outburst came a day after the prosecution presented a presidential decree with a signature they said was Saddam's approval for the Dujail death sentences, their most direct evidence against him.
About 50 of those sentenced by the "Revolutionary Court" died during interrogation before they could go to the gallows. Some of those hanged were children.
"Every time they (defendants) rose and spoke, they provided a lot of incriminating evidence," said one of the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Under Saddam, Iraq's bureaucracy showed a consistent tendency to document orders, policies and minutes of meetings. One document gave the names of everyone from Dujail banished to a desert detention camp in southern Iraq. Another, prepared by an aide to Saddam, gave the president a detailed account of the punitive measures against the people of Dujail.
Saddam's trial had from the outset appeared to reflect the turmoil and violence in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
One of Saddam's lawyers was assassinated the day after the trial's opening session last year. Two more were later assassinated and a fourth fled the country.
In January, chief judge Rizgar Amin, a Kurd, resigned after complaints by Shiite politicians that he had failed to keep control of court proceedings. He, in turn, complained of political interference. Abdul-Rahman, another Kurd, replaced Amin.
Hearings were disrupted by outbursts from Saddam and Ibrahim, with the two raging against what they said was the illegitimacy of the court, their ill treatment in the U.S.-run facility where they are being held and the lack of protection for their lawyers.
The defense lawyers contributed to the chaos in the courtroom by staging several boycotts.
Read Story Here
VIDEO: Saddam Verdict
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
17 United Nations Resolutions Later, Invading his Neighbors, Scortching the Earth, Using WMD on his Own People, Committing Genocide, Finally! The Pain In The Ass of the Middle East, The Butcher of Baghdad gets what's coming to him. DEATH! He got better than he gave. He at least got a trial. His Victims NEVER did. This chapter is closed, and our Troops are yet another step closer to coming home!! (Dedicated To Danny, You now have Justice My Friend)
BAGHDAD, Iraq- Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced Sunday to hang for crimes against humanity in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shiite town, as the ousted leader, trembling and defiant, shouted "God is great!"
As he, his half brother and another senior official in his regime were convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal, Saddam yelled out, "Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!" Later, his lawyer said the former dictator had called on Iraqis to reject sectarian violence and refrain from revenge against U.S. forces.
The trial brought Saddam and his co-defendants before their accusers in what was one of the most highly publicized and heavily reported trials of its kind since the Nuremberg tribunals for members of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime and its slaughter of 6 million Jews in the World War II Holocaust
"The verdict placed on the heads of the former regime does not represent a verdict for any one person. It is a verdict on a whole dark era that has was unmatched in Iraq's history," said Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shiite prime minister.
Some feared the court decision could exacerbate the sectarian violence that has pushed the country to the brink of civil war, after a trial that stretched over nine months in 39 sessions and ended nearly 3 1/2 months ago. The verdict came two days before midterm elections in the United States widely seen as a referendum on the Bush administration's policy in Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials have denied the timing was deliberate.
Iraqis "are the ones who conducted the trial. The Iraqi judges are the ones who spent all the time pouring over the evidence. ... It's important to give them credit for running their own government," said Tony Snow, the president's spokesman.
In north Baghdad's heavily Sunni Azamiyah district, clashes broke out between police and gunmen. Elsewhere in the capital, celebratory gunfire rang out.
"This government will be responsible for the consequences, with the deaths of hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands, whose blood will be shed," Salih al-Mutlaq, a Sunni political leader, told the Al-Arabiya satellite television station.
Saddam and his seven co-defendants were on trial for a wave of revenge killings carried out in the city of Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt on the former dictator. Al-Maliki's Islamic Dawa party, then an underground opposition, has claimed responsibility for organizing the attempt on Saddam's life.
In the streets of Dujail, people celebrated and burned pictures of their former tormentor as the verdict was read.
Saddam's chief lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi condemned the trial as a "farce," claiming the verdict was planned. He said defense attorneys would appeal within 30 days.
The death sentences automatically go to a nine-judge appeals panel, which has unlimited time to review the case. If the verdicts and sentences are upheld, the executions must be carried out within 30 days.
During Sunday's hearing, Saddam initially refused the chief judge's order to rise; two bailiffs pulled the ousted ruler to his feet and he remained standing through the sentencing, sometimes wagging his finger at the judge.
Before the session began, one of Saddam's lawyers, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, was ejected from the courtroom after handing the judge a memorandum in which he called the trial a travesty.
Chief Judge Raouf Abdul-Rahman pointed to Clark and said in English, "Get out."
In addition to the former Iraqi dictator and Barzan Ibrahim, his former intelligence chief and half brother, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted and sentenced Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the head of Iraq's former Revolutionary Court, to death by hanging. Iraq's former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Three defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison for torture and premeditated murder. Abdullah Kazim Ruwayyid and his son Mizhar Abdullah Ruwayyid were party officials Dujail, along with Ali Dayih Ali. They were believed responsible for the Dujail arrests.
Mohammed Azawi Ali, a former Dujail Baath Party official, was acquitted for lack of evidence and immediately freed.
He faces additional charges in a separate case over an alleged massacre of Kurdish civilians - a trial that will continue while appeals are pending.
The guilty verdict is likely to enrage hard-liners among Saddam's fellow Sunnis, who made up the bulk of the former ruling class. The country's majority Shiites were persecuted under the former leader but now largely control the government.
Al-Dulaimi, Saddam's lawyer, told AP his client called on Iraqis to reject sectarian violence and called on them to refrain from taking revenge on U.S. invaders.
"His message to the Iraqi people was 'pardon and do not take revenge on the invading nations and their people'," al-Dulaimi said, quoting Saddam. "The president also asked his countrymen to 'unify in the face of sectarian strife.'"
In Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, 1,000 people defied the curfew and carried pictures of the city's favorite son through the streets. Some declared the court a product of the U.S. "occupation forces" and condemned the verdict.
"By our souls, by our blood we sacrifice for you Saddam" and "Saddam your name shakes America."
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad issued a statement saying the verdicts "demonstrate the commitment of the Iraqi people to hold them (Saddam and his co-defendants) accountable."
"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," Khalilzad said.
Two U.S. officials who worked as advisers to the court on matters of international judicial procedures said Saddam's repeated outbursts during the trial may have played a key part in his conviction.
They cited his admission in a March 1 hearing that he had ordered the trial of 148 Shiites who were eventually executed, insisting that doing so was legal because they were suspected in the assassination attempt against him. "Where is the crime? Where is the crime?" he asked, standing before the panel of five judges.
........................Iraqi's Rejoice At Verdict
Later in the same session, he argued that he was in charge and he alone must be tried. His outburst came a day after the prosecution presented a presidential decree with a signature they said was Saddam's approval for the Dujail death sentences, their most direct evidence against him.
About 50 of those sentenced by the "Revolutionary Court" died during interrogation before they could go to the gallows. Some of those hanged were children.
"Every time they (defendants) rose and spoke, they provided a lot of incriminating evidence," said one of the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Under Saddam, Iraq's bureaucracy showed a consistent tendency to document orders, policies and minutes of meetings. One document gave the names of everyone from Dujail banished to a desert detention camp in southern Iraq. Another, prepared by an aide to Saddam, gave the president a detailed account of the punitive measures against the people of Dujail.
Saddam's trial had from the outset appeared to reflect the turmoil and violence in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
One of Saddam's lawyers was assassinated the day after the trial's opening session last year. Two more were later assassinated and a fourth fled the country.
In January, chief judge Rizgar Amin, a Kurd, resigned after complaints by Shiite politicians that he had failed to keep control of court proceedings. He, in turn, complained of political interference. Abdul-Rahman, another Kurd, replaced Amin.
Hearings were disrupted by outbursts from Saddam and Ibrahim, with the two raging against what they said was the illegitimacy of the court, their ill treatment in the U.S.-run facility where they are being held and the lack of protection for their lawyers.
The defense lawyers contributed to the chaos in the courtroom by staging several boycotts.
Read Story Here
VIDEO: Saddam Verdict
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
17 United Nations Resolutions Later, Invading his Neighbors, Scortching the Earth, Using WMD on his Own People, Committing Genocide, Finally! The Pain In The Ass of the Middle East, The Butcher of Baghdad gets what's coming to him. DEATH! He got better than he gave. He at least got a trial. His Victims NEVER did. This chapter is closed, and our Troops are yet another step closer to coming home!! (Dedicated To Danny, You now have Justice My Friend)
posted by Marie's Two Cents | 7:39 AM
11 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Justice has been served to the man that caused so much death and destruction, but it is not a good topic right now to discuss death with me in any sense shape or form. I have isolated myself for most of the weekend and you can visit my blog if you want to find out why or if anyone cares for that matter.
Congratualtions to your friend Danny, Marie. I know that justice was a long time coming for him and his people. It's time to put the Saddam Hussein regime in the history books next to the other muderous tyranical regimes and get on with the busines of quelling the violence and putting a demoracy together in Iraq so our people can come home and take a break.
We cannot leave before the job is done for the sake of our own security and for the sakes of the brave men and women that have given their lives to this liberation of a nation.
I would also like to say that we should never forget the attack Saddam Hussein made on the US Navy Frigate USS Stark (FFG-31)
USS Stark and remember the names of the men that were killed and wounded that day at the orders of Saddam Hussein.
A better link explaining the incident involving the USS Stark.
USS Stark
Penn,
Justice has been served to the man that caused so much death and destruction, but it is not a good topic right now to discuss death with me in any sense shape or form. I have isolated myself for most of the weekend and you can visit my blog if you want to find out why or if anyone cares for that matter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well sort of, I dont think the people of Iraq will be totally happy until that ass is hanging from a rope!
You will get better Penn, I will keep you in my prayers.
JG,
Congratualtions to your friend Danny, Marie. I know that justice was a long time coming for him and his people. It's time to put the Saddam Hussein regime in the history books next to the other muderous tyranical regimes and get on with the busines of quelling the violence and putting a demoracy together in Iraq so our people can come home and take a break.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I havent talked to Danny in a few weeks but I bet he is one happy camper considering alot of his family was murdered by Saddam.
I am going to email him in the morning and tell him congrats.
I dont think the whole chapter is over just yet I think they are trying Saddam for some other stuff the next trial IS the one where Danny's family got murdered by Saddam. But yes, it is time to close the chapter anyway, he will go down in History right along side Hitler and all the other tyrants.
I think John McCain said it best "There is a special place in hell waiting for him".
Now see, no one ever mentions the USS Stark. I actually forgot all about that. Thank's for bringing that to my attention again.
God Bless all the Souls Saddam has taken!
Actually I didnt mention alot of stuff he did to us American's, Israel, etc.. because this was an Iraqi trial and not an American one.
I wish we could try him for all the stuff he has done to us and Israel, but this is good enough.
I'll be happy and rejoice like those Iraqis, as soon as I see that SOB swinging form a rope.
The POS tried to have Bush SR. killed off, which should be enough to piss us all off.
I take it personally, he was not only our Prez, but we put him in office to represent us, therefore a threat agaisnt him was a threat against us.
So get out the rope and take care of that MF
Right,
I'll be happy and rejoice like those Iraqis, as soon as I see that SOB swinging form a rope.
The POS tried to have Bush SR. killed off, which should be enough to piss us all off.
I take it personally, he was not only our Prez, but we put him in office to represent us, therefore a threat agaisnt him was a threat against us.
So get out the rope and take care of that MF
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I totally agree but I didnt mention any of the stuff that he did to us because it was an Iraqi Trial.
Now if WE were to hold him accountable in the USA, you can imagine the list of charges, with the attempted assasination of our President at the top of the list! Not to mention shooting at our planes in the no-fly-zones, scortching the earth (Why is that never mentioned by Al Gore and all those that wonder if there might be a whole in the Ozone?, Global Warming, whatever. I am sure lighting all those oil wells on fire in Kuwait, and it taking close to a year to put them out had ALOT to do with earth's problems DUH!), as JG mentioned the USS Stark, causing us to have to go to Kuwait/Iraq in the first place, I mean OUR list would be endless.
Although the Iraqi's have one hell of a list all thier own.
I am glad the pain in the ass of the middle east is soon to be gone also!
Ha! Yeah, Like that commercial says: Get a Rope!
Disproving the old saying, "No noose is good noose.
Happy motoring...
Uncle P,
Disproving the old saying, "No noose is good noose.
Happy motoring...
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Haha Good One
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