BAGHDAD: The murder of one of Saddam Hussein’s lawyers is a “big blow” to the former Iraqi dictator’s trial on crimes against humanity and casts doubt over the court’s credibility, analysts warned.
But Washington insisted the case would not be affected by the killing on Wednesday of Khamis al-Obeidi, the third defence lawyer slain since the start of the high-profile trial in October.
Obeidi, 49, one of the team of lawyers representing Saddam, was snatched by about 20 men from his home in Baghdad and later shot dead in the middle of a street in broad daylight.
“The killing of Khamis is a big blow to the trial,” said Nehal Bhuta of New York-based rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).
He said Obeidi, Saddam’s most senior advocate after lead lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi, had been involved in the case from the beginning.
“Killing him at a time when the defence team was to present its final remarks is a big blow to the trial,” he said.
The defence team is due to present closing arguments on July 10 after the prosecution rested its case on June 19, demanding the death penalty for Saddam, his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan.
Saddam and seven former cohorts are on trial for the killing of 148 Shia civilians from the village of Dujail following an assassination attack on the former president in 1982.
Obeidi’s murder is the latest in a series of setbacks to mar the turbulent trial, which has been described by experts as falling short of international standards.
Since it opened, another two defence lawyers have been killed, the first chief judge resigned, and there have been frequent outbursts by the defendants, and their occasional expulsion by the judge.
The former military dictator also faces charges including genocide over the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s and the brutal repression of Shias in the south of the country after a 1991 uprising.
International Crisis Group’s Middle East project director Joost Hiltermann said: “It was difficult for the trial to function given the overall security situation in Iraq.”
“You can’t have a trial when the defence team or the defendants do not know whether they would be there for the next session. Such institutions can’t function in an atmosphere of fear,” Hiltermann told AFP.
Bhuta said Obeidi’s killing was a “disaster waiting to happen as it suggested that no durable resolution was reached by the court for the security of the defence lawyers,” adding that it was decided in November to offer three armed guards to each defence lawyer.
“But our information is that the money for these guards was never paid and at the time of his death, Khamis had no guards,” he added.
In a statement, the defence team also said that its members were not given security “in spite of repeated requests to the court. Our requests were rejected saying the court was unable to provide the security.”
But a US official close to the court said that money was being paid to the lawyers by the interior ministry, but “some chose not to take it.”
Chief investigative judge Raed al-Juhi brushed aside concerns that the trial will be adversely affected by Obeidi’s murder.
“I do not think it will affect the trial. We have told the defence lawyers that they must continue to concentrate on defending the clients,” Juhi said.
The United States also said Obeidi’s killing in no way obstructed the trial.
The trial “remains a viable, legitimate, credible and important process,” State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.
“There are obviously those who want to undermine it ... because they want to attack and undermine the rule of law and the values of a democratic, pluralistic society,” Ereli said.
“So they go after lawyers, they go after judges, they go after prosecutors, they go after witnesses,” he said.
“But I would say that there is a strong commitment, both materially, politically and in terms of security, to ensure the integrity and security of those involved in this process, because there is a recognition of its importance, its value and its legacy for Iraq,” he said.
Defence lawyers expressed determination to continue with the trial, saying in a statement: “We will continue to execute our moral and professional duty to push ahead with the case.”—AFP
