- AMMAN (Reuters) - Lawyers
for Saddam Hussein said on Saturday their client was attacked by an unidentified
man during a court appearance in Baghdad this week, but U.S. forces guarding
him denied any such incident took place.
-
- A statement issued by Saddam's international legal team,
which has an office in Amman, Jordan, said the former president was attacked
and exchanged blows with another person in a hearing attended by Saddam's
main Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi, on Thursday.
-
- "As the president (Saddam) stood to leave the courtroom
one of those present attacked him and there was an exchange of blows between
the man and the president," the statement said, adding that the head
of the tribunal did nothing to stop the assault.
-
- The statement quoted Dulaimi as saying the American guard
who protected Saddam in the courtroom did not intervene and that he lodged
a formal complaint against the tribunal.
-
- The defense team did not say if Saddam was hurt.
-
- However, a spokeswoman for detainee operations in Iraq,
the U.S. military unit charged with overseeing the custody of prisoners
including Saddam, said no such incident took place.
-
- "Nothing like that happened with Saddam whatsoever,"
Lieutenant Kristy Miller said.
-
- The U.S. military is in charge of Saddam's physical custody,
although he is in Iraqi legal custody. Miller said that as far as she knew
Saddam almost never leaves U.S. military sight.
-
- Officials at the Iraqi Special Tribunal, the court set
up to try the former president and other senior members of his now- defunct
Baath Party, were not reachable for comment.
-
- The defense team said it would boycott the tribunal or
any committee interrogating Saddam until he was given the right to proper
legal representation by a team of international lawyers, including allowing
former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, leading Saddam's team of Western
lawyers, to see him in prison.
-
- "Repeated interrogations have taken place without
a lawyer of choice present, no informed choice of legal counsel has been
allowed, on evidence presented against Mr Saddam Hussein and his due process
rights have been irreparably violated," Clark told Reuters in a statement.
-
- AUTHORITY OF THE COURT
-
- The team, retained by Saddam's family, said it held the
U.S. military responsible for any harm to the former Iraqi leader and demanded
safeguards for his protection.
-
- The statement said until the tribunal members identified
themselves in full public hearings, the legal team refused "to recognize
the authority of the court and all the bodies that were interrogating Saddam
as it had no legal authority."
-
- "No defendant can be tried by ghosts," the
defense team's statement said.
-
- The tribunal on Friday released pictures of Saddam being
questioned over the suppression of Shi'ite Muslims after a 1991 uprising,
when his regime is accused of killing up to 150,000 people.
-
- So far, Saddam has been formally charged in only one
case -- the killing of Shi'ite Muslims in the village of Dujail following
a failed assassination attempt in 1982. A date for that trial is expected
to be set soon.
-
- Saddam's defense team has complained that he has had
no access to international lawyers and says Saddam is sometimes called
to hearings at a moment's notice, in violation of rules.
-
- The statement, quoting Dulaimi, said the court adjourned
on Thursday after they accepted his complaint that he was not served enough
prior notice of the hearing.
-
- "When Dulaimi was summoned he was surprised by the
presence of a committee of three lawyers and a prosecutor, he did not know
any of them. In addition he saw anonymous judges and others, he did not
know in what capacity they were present in the court room," the statement
said.
-
- The tribunal denies Saddam has had his rights infringed.
-
- - Additional reporting by Luke Baker in Baghdad
-
- Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
-
- http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNe
ws&storyID=2005-07-30T134326Z_01_N30247234_RTRIDST
_0_INTERNATIONAL-IRAQ-SADDAM-DC.XML
|
