Saddam alleged victims 'are alive'

[cal04]

A DEFENCE witness in Saddam Hussein's trial over the killings of Iraqi Shiite villagers claimed many of those allegedly executed were still alive and said the prosecution case was built on bribes.
The anonymous witness said he was a teenager in Dujail in 1982 when an attempt on Saddam's life led to what the prosecution has termed a massive crackdown on the village, hundreds of arrests and the execution of 148 men.

"The prosecutor said they were executed but I am telling you I ate with them some time ago" and that 23 of them were alive, said the witness, who had worked at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison in the mid-1980s.

"Many of them have gotten rich and occupy powerful positions," he said, as he testified from behind a curtain, going on to write down names for the judge. "If it is true and these people are still alive, this whole case should be reconsidered from the beginning," said the lawyer for Awad al-Bandar, whose revolutionary court under Saddam sentenced the men to death in 1984.

Saddam and seven associates are on trial for crimes against humanity stemming from the arrests, torture and execution of Dujail villagers as well as the destruction of their property. The witness charged that the whole case was fabricated.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19313859-1702,00.html

[panader0]

1. Maybe that's why bush won't let pictures be taken of our own war dead

So he can later claim, at his trial for war crimes, that they are still alive.

[wakeme2008]

2. This whole case against Saddam is falling more and more

apart.

If any of the men Saddam had "killed" are alive, in the US the trial would be over.

[Igel]

3. Well, that should make the defence's case trivially simple,

shouldn't it?

Produce records, photographs, or a few reliable witnesses. The charges involving those 'deceased', at least, will be dropped.

But then there's the question of why some (virtuously?) failed to carry out the executions as directed. Perhaps a bit of corruption and graft might turn out to be a good thing?

I disagree with the conclusion though: I don't think perfection on the part of the government or the prosecution is required, esp. when the records aren't available in their entirety. It's why there's a trial, after all, and would just show that it really is a trial and not a scripted performance. It's not like perfection has been required of the defence, after all, and I don't think most Americans are quite *that* hypocritical.

[underpants]

5. Eh con't believe the tripe. This case is being argued for the Iraqi public

Saddam's defense appears mostly to be him acting like Iraqis are used to seeing him act (in charge) and this charge is just a public airing of a BS conspiracy theory based on the old Iraq. By mentioning bribery this resonates with Iraqis and they nod their heads in understanding. Graft and payback was a way of life there (as it is in most dictatorships) so this sounds familiar to the listening public who were the target of this not the judges.

Saddam is guilty as hell-he even admitted that he ordered their killing- and this case is already over only Saddam is using it to get the word out to his countrymen. I have to say that I am shocked that there haven't been some charges that Saddam is somehow sending out messages to the insurgents (that was a talking point at one point) and that used as an excuse to not allow him to speak at the trial.

I also am shocked that the defense isn't based on the fact that Saddam pretty much WAS the law. You can't break the law if you are the one who makes the law.

I dunno-just one man's opinion.

[goclark]

9. GW breaks the laws because he makes the laws and appoints

the judges that give cover to his eil deeds.

[geek tragedy]

10. That defense didn't work for the Nazis.

Typically, a dictator's claims to such blanket immunity fall on deaf ears.

[Psephos]

4. oh for god's sake, can't someone just take him out back and shoot him?

should have been done 20 years ago after he killed his first million

[lumpy]

6. George goofed, he should have ordered

Saddam shot on sight. Right? Much more expedient than a judge, jury and the concept of democracy.

[cal04]

7. A second witness many of the people are still living.

A second witness, a shepherd from Dujail, also said many of the people that had supposedly been killed were still living.

"This name is supposed to have been executed, but he is now having a son and he has married twice. I was invited to his wedding in May," said the witness, who also testified anonymously.

Saddam and seven associates are on trial for crimes against humanity stemming from the arrests, torture and execution of Dujail villagers as well as the destruction of their property.

The witnesses charged that the whole case was fabricated.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19315450-1702,00.html

[cureautismnow]

8. Perhaps, they rose from their mass graves? n/t