Iraq’s ousted president Saddam Hussein was admitted to hospital on Sunday suffering from the effects of his hunger-strike, chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Musawi told Agence France-Presse.
The detained leader, who stopped eating 16 days ago, is too ill to attend the next session of his trial, scheduled for Monday, Musawi said.
”Saddam Hussein has just been admitted to hospital because of his hunger strike. A medical report has established that he cannot appear tomorrow [Monday], because his condition needs medical attention,” he said.
Saddam (68) had been due to appear before judges at the latest hearing in his trial for the alleged killings of 148 members of Iraq’s Shiite community following an attempt to assassinate him in 1982.
He and three of his co-defendants have been refusing food since July 7, and last week the defence warned that their health was deteriorating.
A spokesperson for his US jailers, Lieutenant Colonel Keir Kevin Curry, said on July 13 the men had been refusing some meals but later said they were all in good health while getting extra medical attention.
The three aides striking with Saddam are his former secret police chief and half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti, ex-vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan and head of the former revolutionary court Awad al-Bandar. It was Bandar’s court which allegedly condemned the 148 villagers to death for the failed attack against Saddam.
The hunger-strikers are protesting at the murders of three defence lawyers since the start of the trial in October last year, the first prosecution of the former Iraqi leader since he was ousted by a US-led invasion in April 2003.
They are also protesting at the way the trial is being carried out by the Iraqi court and demanding what they call a fair tribunal.
In the first of what may become a series of prosecutions, Saddam and seven co-defendants are accused of ordering the execution of 148 Shi’ites from the village of Dujail during an investigation of the alleged assassination plot.
They face execution by hanging if found guilty on charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, but the trial has been disrupted by Saddam’s refusal to recognise the legitimacy of the court.
Musawi said Monday’s planned hearing would go ahead as planned, despite the deterioration in the former strongman’s health.
”Tomorrow, the court will hear the defence case from the lawyers for Taha Yassin Ramadan and Awad al-Bandar. If their lawyers are not there, they will be committing an offence,” the prosecutor said.
In Amman, Saddam’s main lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said the defence team would not attend Monday’s session in protest at their demands not being met.
In a statement, the legal team said it had decided on this boycott ”in consultation with Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his co-accused who are pursuing their hunger strike”.
At the onset of the hunger strike, Saddam’s US jailers said he was accepting tea with sugar and water with a nutrient supplement, but no food. – AFP
