Saddam could be tried posthumously: US official

[tocqueville]

7 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could be tried posthumously for genocide if an Iraqi court decides to execute him for a separate accusation of mass murder.

According to a US legal expert who briefed reporters anonymously ahead of Saddam's trial for his alleged role in the Anfal campaign against Iraq's Kurdish minority, the case could be delayed by a verdict in the first case.

The Anfal trial is to begin on Monday, but a verdict in the other case is expected on October 16, when Iraqi judges will rule on whether the former strongman ordered the illegal execution of 148 Shiite villagers.

If found guilty, Saddam could face execution or life imprisonment, in which case he would have an automatic right to appeal.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060819/wl_mideast_afp/iraqtrialsaddamsentence

mmmm hang them first, try them later ?

[Akim]

1. Wouldn't he first have to oblige everyone by dying? n/t

[Demeter]

3. The Problem Is They Can Only Execute Him Once

and if they succeed with this murder charge, then the genocide issue is still unresolved. Besides, they've got to kill off any conflicting testimony and witnesses before the Bush/Cheney War Crimes trials open. After all, can't have Poppy's reputation and freedom dragged through the mud!

[DavidDvorkin]

13. When the monarchy was restored in England

They dug up Cromwell's body and hanged it. So there's certainly a precedent in English legal history. :)

[Demeter]

15. That Would Get Kind of Old, Though

How many times can you hang a dead body--asuming the war crimes trials occur after death?

[patricia92243]

2. What would be the point? n/t

[mom cat]

6. PR, baby, PR.

[sam sarrha]

4. Saddam will be released when we leave and will be put back in power

leave....?? well, when we are driven out..

[madokie]

5. I would bet on it

[Donald Ian Rankin]

7. I think this vanishingly unlikely.

There are not many things that the Iraqi populace agree on, but that they do not want Saddam back is one of them, I believe.

[NNN0LHI]

8. Can we do the same to Reagan for supporting Saddam all those years? n/t

[angstlessk]

9. I guess that 'facing one's accusers' is as much crap in Iraq as in the

'new and improved' USA?

[intaglio]

10. Ok so we now know Saddam is about to

...feel very poorly, perhaps a heart condition, maybe an aggressive cancer or perhaps a misguided attempt to free him will blow him up :sarcasm:

On the otherhand could this be used as a precedent in the upcoming case of the US vs GWB? }(

[poverlay]

11. At least that trial would go a little quicker! n/t

[Generic Other]

12. If you can be born again, you ought to be able to die twice

The rapid descent into pure unadulterated idiocy in this country under the Bush regime continues to confound!

[prole_for_peace]

14. that'll teach him..

n/t