SADDAM Hussein's family has no money to pay for his defence and his legal team is demanding that either the Iraqi court trying him or the media provide the funds, his Iraqi lawyer said today.| "Legume, bring me my saxophone!" |
Pointing his finger at the Special Tribunal that will be trying Saddam and seven former cohorts from October 19, Mr Dulaimi said it had spent at least $US500 million (almost $657 million) preparing its case. He said his team had asked the court for funds to cover their costs, but had received no response.
Mr Dulaimi said that he would make no further statements to the media until the tribunal "applies the law and covers the expenses of the lawyers" or until the media do.
Saddam and seven others are charged in connection with the massacre of 143 people in the Shi'ite village of Dujail in 1982 following an attempt on his life there. Senior former officials to be tried with him are ex-vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam's half-brother and former intelligence boss Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan and a former deputy chief in Saddam's cabinet, Awad Ahmed al-Bandar. The other four – Abdullah Khadem Ruweid, Mezhar Abdullah Ruweid, Ali Daeh and Mohammed Azzam al-Ali – are former ruling Baath party officials responsible for the Dujail area.
Mr Dulaimi has been requesting a delay, claiming that the defence had not been informed about the trial date and had not given it full access to Saddam himself or full details of the charges against him. The court, however, said it had told the defence in September of the trial and that it had been provided with all the evidence obtained in the case.