by greencrow0 » Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:59 pm
Saddam Verdict Is Expected on Nov. 5<br> Email this Story<br><br>Oct 16, 7:06 AM (ET)<br><br>By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA<br><br>BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A verdict against Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants charged with crimes against humanity in connection with an anti-Shiite crackdown in the 1980s will be announced Nov. 5, a senior court official said on Monday.<br><br>Sentences for those found guilty will be issued the same day, chief investigating judge Raid Juhi told The Associated Press.<br><br>The former Iraqi leader could be hanged if convicted. However, he could appeal the sentence to a higher, nine-judge court. His co-defendants include his former deputy, Taha Yassin Ramadan, and his half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim.<br><br>The trial began a year ago with the eight defendants facing charges arising from the deaths of nearly 150 Shiites from the town of Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam in the town north of Baghdad.<br><br>That trial adjourned July 27 to allow its five-judge panel to consider a verdict. The court was to have reconvened Monday to hear a verdict.<br><br>"The Dujail trial will resume Nov. 5 when the presiding judge will announce the verdict and the sentencing," Juhi said.<br><br>Saddam is the chief defendant in another trial, facing genocide charges in connection with a government crackdown in the 1980s against Iraqi Kurds. The prosecution alleges about 180,000 people died in that campaign.<br><br>Saddam, his cousin "Chemical" Ali al-Majid and five other co-defendants could face death by hanging if convicted.<br><br>Hearings in the second trial are to resume Tuesday. <p></p><i></i>