Death penalty for Saddam Hussein

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been convicted of crimes against humanity by a Baghdad court and sentenced to death by hanging.

He was found guilty over his role in the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail in 1982.

His half brother Barzan al-Tikriti was also sentenced to death, as was Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bander

Former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan got life in jail and three others received 15 year prison terms.

Another co-defendant, Baath party official Mohammed Azawi Ali, was acquitted.

When called to court, Saddam Hussein, dressed in his usual dark suit and white shirt and carrying a Koran, walked to his customary seat and sat down.


Long live Iraq! Long live the Iraqi people! Down with the traitors!
Saddam Hussein, reacting to verdict

John Simpson on Saddam Hussein's performance

Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman ordered Saddam Hussein to stand while he read out the verdict, but the former president defiantly refused to do so and had to be moved from his seat by court attendants.

As the judge began reading the death sentence Saddam Hussein shouted out "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Greatest) and "Long live Iraq! Long live the Iraqi people! Down with the traitors!"

The former leader looked shocked and furious as the sentence was passed, and continued to shout, denouncing the court, the judge and the US-led occupation force in Iraq.

But the BBC's world affairs editor John Simpson said that after his tirade, as he was led away from the courtroom, Saddam Hussein seemed to have a small smile on his face.

"It was as if he was thinking 'I've come here and done what I intended to do'," our correspondent said.

Celebratory gunfire

Shortly after the verdict was announced celebratory gunfire could be heard across Baghdad.

The whole city of six million people has been placed under a 12-hour daytime curfew that bans all vehicle and pedestrian traffic amid fears of violence from Saddam Hussein's Sunni Arab supporters.


THE SENTENCES

* Saddam Hussein, former Iraqi president: death by hanging
* Awad Hamed al-Bander, Chief Judge of Revolutionary Court: death by hanging
* Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein's half-brother: death by hanging
* Taha Yasin Ramadan, Iraqi vice-president: life sentence
* Abdullah Kadhem Ruaid Senior Baath official: 15 years
* Abdullah Rawed Mizher, Senior Baath official: 15 years
* Ali Daeem Ali, Senior Baath official: 15 years

The government cancelled all army leave and the city's civilian airport has been closed.

Three nearby provinces, including Salahuddin, which contains Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, are also under curfew.

Almost three years since Saddam Hussein was captured, soaring sectarian violence has brought Iraq to the brink of civil war.

Few Iraqis think the trial verdict will ease conflict, the BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says.

Even those Iraqis who want to see their former leader dead do not believe his execution would make things any better, our correspondent says.

'Victors' justice'

Many critics have dismissed the trial as a form of victors' justice, given the close attention the US has paid to it.

Lawyers for Saddam Hussein have also accused the government of interfering in the proceedings - a complaint backed by US group Human Rights Watch.

And the former leader's lawyers have attacked the timing of the planned verdict, which comes days before the US votes in mid-term elections.

US President George W Bush's Republican Party is at risk of losing control of Congress in part because of voter dissatisfaction over its handling of the Iraq conflict. In a televised speech on Saturday, Nouri Maliki, Iraq's Shia Arab prime minister, said he hoped Saddam Hussein would get "what he deserves" for "crimes against the Iraqi people".

Ahead of the verdict Mr Maliki called for calm, saying that Iraqis should mark it in a way that "does not risk their lives".

Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6117910.stm)

i doubt its the real saddam they have in custody anyway...wheres my conspiracy brother hyperx he will tell you :f-spit:

Death By Katanga... :fly:

WOW
is it over?
or is the worst yet to come?

WOW
is it over?
or is the worst yet to come?

Yeps... can of worms... make him a martyr ... that will workk.. sigh just make sure you check yer lunchbox before you open it

Pardon me , I've been drunk all weekend.
Any indication of the date?

1 word comes to mind

......FINALLY

Well, I've always been against the death penalty, but I'm not going to shed any tears for that wanker - f*ck him. I do feel a bit sorry for the dozens of soldiers and 100's of civilians that are about to die on his already-overdrawn account, 'though.

Poor guy !! :icon_sad: Give him a cookie :P

they still use hanging? :ftw:

they still use hanging? :ftw:


Hanging? Fuck dude, in some of those countries, they still use the old Muslim law practices of chopping off hands and feet! Hanging is getting off easy.

Now, if we're convinced that it's not the real Saddam, it's time to scour the middle-east for every Saddam look-alike, and we'll hang them all! That way we know we got him, or at least took care of some of the population problem in the world today. :icon_oyes:

Hanging, or any type of corporal punishment will only make him a martyr, it will set off his remaining supporters to attack and kill the innocents.
I say put his butt in the deepest dungeon for life..
just my opinion..

Hanging? Fuck dude, in some of those countries, they still use the old Muslim law practices of chopping off hands and feet! Hanging is getting off easy.



isnt he in the U.S?

No, his trial is in Iraq, although conspiracy theories lend that he's supposedly hanging out in the US while one of his many clones is the one in jail.

isnt bit careless leaving him in iraq cos i'm thinking couple of his buddies might try and bust him out western style using a rope and two horses

Hanging, or any type of corporal punishment will only make him a martyr, it will set off his remaining supporters to attack and kill the innocents.
I say put his butt in the deepest dungeon for life..
just my opinion..

I think u'll get more ppl getting pissed wid him still alive than him being dead. Somehow i think his fate was sealed wen they caught him. This 'trail' thing was only gonna have one conclusion...

Mid election ploy perhaps?

He got off lucky I think they should have torchered him for a few years first.

I hope they don't widely publicise his execution, like they should just anounce it in the newspapers and in a quiet heading on the tv news, not show any pictures or videos or try and promote it in anyway - otherwise it will definitely lead to matyrdom.

on another note about the middle east - the Australian government (and others) are supposedly saying that they are withdrawing troops.

However a mate of mine used to be in the army, and he said they are actually campaigning to boost troop numbers up again, and he was contacted by them to rejoin and the contract was for a 4 year commitment to be posted in the middle east. withdraw troops my ass!

Shit, we caught Sadam, when did that happen?

So... please tell me they actually convicted him on a few more charges than just killing 148 people...
148 is a lot (definitely a lot), but they killed a lot more civilians than that invading iraq. And more than 148 will be killed as a result of the verdict.

PE, the man will be a martyr for whoever follows his cause. Throwing him in prison for life is no different than killing him. Let the punishment fit the crime.

PE, the man will be a martyr for whoever follows his cause. Throwing him in prison for life is no different than killing him. Let the punishment fit the crime.
(nods) :icon_oyes:
Agreed