BAGHDAD, Oct 13: Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s trial to start next week will be public, open to the media and possibly broadcast live, Iraq’s chief judge in the case, Raed al Juhi, said on Thursday.

“The trial will be public,” Mr Juhi said. “And I hope that it will be broadcast live on television.”

Saddam Hussein and seven associates go on trial on Wednesday for the 1982 murders of 143 inhabitants of Dujail, a village north of Baghdad where the former president’s motorcade had come under attack.

Saddam and the seven others, who face the death penalty, will be tried by the Iraqi Special Tribunal.

Mr Juhi, who is also the tribunal’s chief spokesman, left open the possibility that the trial could be delayed after an initial court appearance by Saddam and his co-defendants on Oct 19.

“The decision is up to the tribunal,” he said.

Saddam’s Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi has already said he will ask for a delay on the opening day, claiming that the defence had not been given full access to Saddam himself or full details of the charges against him.

The first day will likely consist of a simple reading of charges along with motions by defence lawyers, according to a source close to the court.

Mr Juhi said that international observers could follow the trial, and that 12 other cases against Saddam were also being prepared.

Some cases during which chemical weapons were allegedly used against Kurdish villages — “could be closed quickly”, Mr Juhi said. —AFP