A former judge who sentenced 148 Shiites to death under Saddam Hussein's rule
in the 1980s told prosecutors in the Saddam trial Thursday that the suspects had
confessed and received a fair trial.
But Awad al-Bandar acknowledged the defendants had only one defense lawyer,
appointed by his Revolutionary Court.
Wearing a red checkered traditional headdress, al-Bandar stood alone in the
defendants' pen, often appearing nervous and agitated as chief judge Raouf
Abdel-Rahman and prosecutors questioned him. Al-Bandar was one of seven
co-defendants in the case who were cross-examined last month, but he was called
back for both the defense and prosecution to present new documents.
Saddam was not in the courtroom. On Wednesday, the former president was
cross-examined by prosecutors for six hours for the first time in the six-month
trial.
Prosecutors are seeking to show that al-Bandar's Revolutionary Court gave the
148 Shiites only a cursory trial on charges they tried to assassinate Saddam in
the town of Dujail in 1982 — and that Saddam approved their death sentences even
though many had nothing to do with the attack.
"It was a legal and a just court," al-Bandar insisted, saying the defendants
had confessed to carrying out the assassination plot "with instructions from the
government of Iran to overthrow the regime in Iraq."
"I was keen to carry out justice and I hoped that the defendants would be
found not guilty. ... May God be my witness, it made us happy whenever a
defendant was released."
He acknowledged that none of the defendants in the case was found innocent.
He also said the 148 suspects had only one court-assigned lawyer among them.
"We appointed a lawyer because no lawyer was hired," he said. Asked how many
lawyers, he said the court's policy was was to appoint one lawyer per case
regardless of the number of defendants.
"All the defendants were present in the court. ... They confessed before me
and the ruling was issued," al-Bandar said. "If I, as a judge, issue a sentence
in accordance with the law, should I be punished?"
Saddam and the seven former members of his regime face possible execution by
hanging if found guilty over the crackdown launched against residents of Dujail
after Saddam's motorcade was shot at as it passed through the Shiite town in
1982. Hundreds — including women and children — were imprisoned, some of them
saying they were tortured, and 148 Shiites were killed.
The defendants have insisted their actions were a legal response to the
assassination attempt. But prosecutors have sought to show the sweep went far
beyond the actual attackers, including children as young as 11 years old who
were killed.
Defense lawyers on Thursday presented a series of handwritten documents from
1984 they said were confessions by some of the Shiites, telling their
interrogators they plotted with the pro-Iranian Shiite Dawa party to kill
Saddam.
Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi noted that one of the purported
confessions was by a suspect, Ahmed Jassem, whose identity card showed he was 15
at the time. "He was a minor ... and he was tried and sentenced to death by the
Revolutionary Court," he said.
"The identity cards are forged," al-Bandar shouted. "I did not sentence
minors. I sentenced adults. They were all over 20 years old."
After a two-hour session, the trial was adjourned until April 12.
In his testimony Wednesday, Saddam insisted he was convinced that the 148
were guilty, but evaded questions about how closely he looked at the evidence.
Asked if he had read the evidence against the men before referring them for
trial, Saddam replied, "If the constitution requires the head of state to review
documents before referral, then I abided by it." Pressed by prosecutors on the
point, he snapped, "I have answered."
After the men were sentenced to death, he said, "I was convinced the evidence
that was presented was sufficient" to approve the sentences.
Wednesday's session was the first opportunity prosecutors have had to
directly question Saddam on the charges.
Earlier this week, the tribunal indicted Saddam and six former members of his
regime on separate charges of genocide for a campaign against Kurds in the 1980s
that killed an estimated 100,000 people.
A separate trial will be held on those charges, possibly beginning in 45
days, though some officials have questioned whether the tribunal will be able to
conduct two trials simultaneously. In any case, it means a drawn-out legal
process amid continued violence and political wrangling over the formation of
Iraq's next government.