Saddam could face death penalty

[dplax]

Source: BBC

Saddam Hussein could face the death penalty if found guilty by a war crimes tribunal, its head has told the BBC.
Salem Chalabi said Iraqi law permitted execution for murderers, but a current coalition-imposed moratorium on capital punishment would have to be lifted.

Mr Chalabi told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme that hundreds of Iraqis had been flocking to submit evidence against their former rulers.

But he said the trials were unlikely to get under way for at least one year.

Negotiations over Saddam

Mr Chalabi - nephew of Ahmed Chalabi, the once influential but now largely discredited head of the Iraqi National Congress - faces the challenging task of trying to organise the trials of former Iraqi leaders suspected of war crimes amid violent resistance to the new order.

Iraq's tarnished judicial system also requires major reform.

Mr Chalabi, director of Iraq's war crimes tribunal, said "intensive negotiations" were taking place with coalition authorities over the handling of Saddam Hussein.

He said he hoped the ousted president could be placed in Iraqi custody "relatively soon" after the 30 June transition of power - along with other "high-value targets" in coalition custody.

Mr Chalabi said Iraqi law allowed the imposition of a death sentence on those convicted of murder or rape.

However, Mr Chalabi said, the death penalty had been suspended in Iraq by interim administrator Paul Bremer and the suspension would remain unless the new Iraqi government acts "affirmatively" to remove it.

The imposition of a death sentence would be highly contentious. Some co-sponsors of the war in Iraq, such as the UK, strongly oppose the use of capital punishment.

Tide of evidence

Mr Chalabi was forced to conceal his appearance during the interview for his own protection, and he conceded that there were dangers facing "everybody involved in trying to build a democratic Iraq".

But Mr Chalabi said the apparent risks of being seen to collaborate with the new authorities had not appeared to deter Iraqis from rushing to file evidence against their former rulers.

"We have opened one regional office to take information from witnesses and there are literally hundreds, if not thousands [of people] that come in on a regular basis trying to give information."

He said the opening of additional regional offices had been postponed because of the tribunal's concerns about the safety of the witnesses, and a 30-strong team dedicated to setting up a witness protection programme.

Mr Chalabi sounded cautiously upbeat about the progress his team is making in preparing the ground for war trials.

'Decent' system

Iraq's judicial system was set up in the 1920s by the British, he said, and is actually "pretty decent, although it was played around with by the previous regime".

He said a new independent council of judges had been established and some judges had been sent to the international court at the Hague for training.

But Mr Chalabi cautioned that there was a long road ahead.

Investigations would only begin in earnest after arrest warrants for suspects were issued after the handover, he said - and then it would probably be "a year or two" before the trials could begin.

[Stratos]

I would expect that this would be Saddams fate when he's handed over the Iraqs.

[Black Baron]

Incorrect. Saddam will face the death penalty, and he will be executed. The question is only about the way-officially, or not?

[ 06-20-2004, 03:05 PM: Message edited by: Black Baron ]

[Stratos]

I think he will be shot.

[Xen]

He must first be sentenced. Then we will see what will happen. (Whatever will it be ... it won` be good)

Why am I not surprised?

[promethius9594]

oh, unless they put him in solitary confinement for life, hes a dead man.

even if they didnt execute him, they would put him in a prison with a bunch of men he put there for sneezing the wrong way after chopping off their ears, tongues, or tips of noses... yeah, he's not going to live real long like that.

My only thought when I read the title of the thread was..."I should certainly hope so" Since torture and commensurate punishments for his crimes are not allowed by the "World Court of Opinion" the only decent thing to do would be to execute him as quickly and as cheaply as practicable.

[Gab]

He's one of the few bastards who derserves to be executed.

[Felix The Assassin]

Oh Hell's no. Execution would be way to easy for the bastige.

Put him in a cell with American liberal TV, radio, and the freedom that the Iraqi people will enjoy.

No outside comms with anybody!