Court drops charges against Saddam

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein's trial for the killing of 180,000 Kurds in the 1980s resumed Monday with the late dictator's seat empty, nine days after he went to the gallows. The court's first order of business was to drop all charges against Saddam.

Six co-defendants still face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in a military campaign code-named Operation Anfal during the 1980-88 Iraq- Iran war.

Shortly after the court reconvened Monday, a bailiff called out the names of the accused and the six men walked silently into the courtroom one after another.

Chief Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa said the court decided to stop all legal action against the former president, since "the death of defendant Saddam was confirmed."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Saddam’s hasty execution denied the Kurds their day in court

~snip~

At any rate and regardless of the motive(s), executing Saddam at this time Robbed the Kurds of their fair day in court. It deprived them of proving in a court of law the extent of the heinous crimes, including the crime of Genocide, that he had committed against the Kurds.

Mind you, the Kurds had tons of documents and the testimonies of countless survivors to prove his guilt and win their case.

Days after Saddam’s defeat in the first Gulf War in 1991 (and the near-collapse of the Iraqi government in its aftermath), the Kurdish partisan forces (the Peshmarga) entered Kirkuk, the headquarters of his operations in northern Iraq. They were able to salvage and capture tons of top-secret documents meticulously kept, and bureaucratically archived by Saddam’s multi layers of Mukhabarat (his Gestapo) and security police chronicling detailed accounts of the crime of Genocide that the regime had perpetrated upon the Kurds in the 1980s with full knowledge, and under the supreme command, of the dictator.

About six tons of these documents were eventually transported to the U.S., and digitalized for easy reference. It is these documents, or part thereof, along with other documents kept in the headquarters of the Mukhabarat in Baghdad, plus the testimony of some of the fortunate survivors, that the Kurds wanted the entire world to know, the Iraqi people first, and foremost.

Saddam’s crime of Genocide against the Kurds should not have been covered up so rashly by his impetuous execution for partisan reasons, or for the purpose of giving the appearance of a government in control.


http://www.kurdmedia.com/articles.asp?id=13855

[Wilms]

1. Mission Accomplished n/t

[leesa]

2. Dead men tell no tales. How obvious can this get?

[Wednesdays]

3. Back in the Middle Ages

they'd dig up the body of a pope, seat it on a throne, and put it on trial.

[Hepburn]

4. What a freaking shock ~~ NOT!! n/t

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Capital punishment means never having to say "Oops." n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. We're through the looking glass

...

[Canuckistanian]

7. Very neatly done

Future criminal organizations should pay attention to the method used here.

Intimidation, when applied properly, can do wonders to cover up all those "little embarrassments".

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Does that mean that his family can keep his ill-gotten booty?

I mean, it seemed to work for Ken Lay.

[LynnTheDem]

9. Gee what a total surprise.

Not.

[Marie26]

10. No justice, no peace. nt

[daleo]

11. Genocide charges against Saddam dropped

An Iraqi court on Monday dropped all charges against former dictator Saddam Hussein nine days after he was executed. The trial continues for six other men for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Saddam and the others had been on trial for the killing of 180,000 Iraqi Kurds during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war in a military operation code-named Operation Anfal.

Shortly after the court reconvened Monday, Chief Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa said the court decided to stop all legal action against the former president, since "the death of defendant Saddam was confirmed."

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/08/saddam-iraq.html

[Richard D]

12. Death confirmed . . .

. . . and why bring up the fact that the US helped saddam in his genocidal actions?

[ronnykmarshall]

13. WOW!

I bet that's a load of his mind!

[otherlander]

14. .

:spray: :thumbsup:

[Say_What]

15. That lets the USSA off the hook... n/t

[daleo]

16. It is a bit reminiscent of Ken Lay and Enron

He died before being sentenced, so his conviction was scrubbed out. Saddam "died" mid-way through the genocide trial, so his charges can be dropped. Bush is potentially off the hook for some embarrassing disclosures in either case.

[Az_lefty]

17. now if we can just stop the hanging he might have something worth saying...

like all that...well, never mind.