An Iraqi court on April 29 began hearing the capital case against Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein’s best-known lieutenants, and seven other defendants facing charges in the 1992 execution of dozens of merchants for profiteering.
Aziz, 72, is Chaldean and was the only Christian member of Saddam’s inner circle.
The court adjourned the opening session after half an hour because a co-defendant, Saddam’s cousin known as “Chemical Ali,’ was too ill to attend.
Aziz and the other defendants present, including Saddam’s half brother Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, sat in a wooden pen, each standing as the judge read their names and discussed legal issues. No charges were read before the session was adjourned until May 20.
The presiding judge, Raouf Abdul-Rahman, said doctors had signed a medical report saying that Ali Hassan al-Majid — who gained the nickname Chemical Ali for ordering chemical attacks against the Kurds in the late 1980s — was in critical condition and needed some three weeks to recover.
Aziz has denied the accusations.
“I have spoken to Mr. Aziz on this matter two weeks ago and I recorded our conversation. Mr. Aziz is not guilty of any offense whatsoever,’ said Italian attorney Giovanni Di Stefano, who was also one of several non-Arab attorneys who consulted for the core team defending Hussein.
The trial deals with the execution of 42 merchants accused by Saddam’s government of being behind a sharp increase in food prices when the country was under strict U.N. sanctions.
The merchants were rounded up over two days in July 1992 from Baghdad’s wholesale markets and charged with manipulating food supplies to drive up prices at a time when many Iraqis were suffering economically. All 42 were executed hours later after a quick trial.
Another judge with the Iraqi High Tribunal, which is prosecuting offenses of the former regime, said the charges against the defendants would include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. If convicted, the men could face a sentence of death by hanging.
The judge — who declined to be identified because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the information — said Aziz was being prosecuted because he signed the execution orders against the merchants as a member of Saddam’s Revolutionary Command Council, a rubberstamp group that approved the dictator’s decisions.
Another defense attorney, Badee Izzat Aref, has said Aziz is ailing and still suffers from the effects of a stroke he had prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Aziz surrendered to American forces on April 25, 2003.
Aziz was born in Telkeif and studied English literature at Baghdad University. Known for his faultless English, he was No. 43 on the U.S. most-wanted list of Iraqi officials.
— Associated Press
article by: AP