The Iraqi tribunal that sentenced ousted president Saddam Hussein to death for crimes against humanity has forwarded its ruling to the appeal court, the first procedural step in the appeal process.
“Thirty-four boxes containing the ruling and all documents related to the Dujail trial were delivered yesterday [Sunday] to the appeal court,” an Iraqi official close to the court said on condition of anonymity.
On November 5, Saddam was sentenced to death by hanging for ordering the execution of 148 Shi’ites from the village of Dujail after he escaped an assassination bid there in 1982.
His half-brother and intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti was also sentenced to death, along with Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, chairperson of the so-called Revolutionary Court that ordered the Shi’ites executed.
Saddam’s former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan received a life sentence, while three Ba’ath party officials from Dujail received 15 years each and a fourth, more junior figure, was cleared.
There is no set period for the appeal court’s deliberations but its decision is final and if it upholds the original verdict the sentence must be carried out in 30 days.
Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, maintain that Saddam could face the gallows in the next few months.
In a report on Monday, New York-based Human Rights Watch said the trial was “fundamentally flawed” and even called for the verdict to be overturned. — AFP