Saddam interrogation 'unlawful'

2005-06-13 22:43

Amman - The interrogation of Saddam Hussein in the absence of his lawyers was "unlawful", a member of his Jordan-based defence team said after a video was released on Monday of the ousted Iraqi leader being quizzed by a judge.

Issam Ghazzawi said: "What I saw on al-Jazeera television were pictures of an interrogation, not a videotape, and this interrogation is unlawful because it is conducted without the presence of a lawyer."

The Iraqi Special Tribunal charged with trying Saddam released a videotape showing the ousted leader being interrogated by a judge over alleged crimes against humanity.

Judge Raed al-Juhi, a member of the panel, said without elaborating: "I have given the approval to release the tape."

CNN television showed brief footage of Juhi questioning a bearded Saddam who was wearing a tieless white shirt and a black vest.

'Ordering revenge murders'

It said the judge was interrogating Saddam about the 1982 killing of 143 residents of Dujail, a Shiite village northeast of Baghdad.

He was accused of ordering revenge murders after villagers allegedly tried to assassinate him.

Other footage broadcast on Dubai-based al-Arabiya television showed an unidentified man in a blue suit sitting next to Saddam, who had been in United States custody in Iraq since his capture in December 2003.

Ghazzawi said: "We don't know when these pictures were taken, we don't know if they are old or new."

Asked if the defence team was able to get in touch with Saddam's Iraqi lawyer, Khalil Duleimi, for further information, Ghazzawi said: "Khalil Dulaimi should be coming to Amman within three days at the most."

Ziad Khassawneh of the defence said on Friday that Saddam's lawyers had been kept in the dark about preparations for his trial and not received a single document outlining the charges against him.

- AFP