NEWS: Witness to Testify Against Saddam Sunday, page 1

posted on Oct, 20 2005 @ 11:42 AM

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There appears to have been an unexpected turn of events in the trail of Saddam Hussein. The trial will resume at an unexpected session Sunday, rather then in three weeks as had been expected. Apparently one of the key witness's for the prosecution, Wadah Ismael Al-Sheik has what is perceived to be terminal cancer. . If Al-Sheik recovers, he probably will be a defendant in a later case regarding another alleged massacre that took place under Saddam's rule.

n ews.yahoo.com
A key prosecution witness in Saddam Hussein's trial will testify at an unexpected session Sunday because the former intelligence official is seriously ill with cancer, officials said Thursday.

The witness, Wadah Ismael Al-Sheik, was a senior Iraqi intelligence officer at the time of the Dujail massacre in 1982 that Saddam and seven other co-defendants are charged with, two lawyers said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid compromising the case or the heavy security surrounding it.

Saddam made a defiant initial court appearance Wednesday on the murder and torture charges, along with the seven former government and Baath Party officials, and chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mousawi, outlined the case against the men. The three-hour session then adjourned until Nov. 28.

But in a surprise, lawyers said Al-Sheik will testify Sunday at a U.S. detention center where he is being held near Baghdad's international airport because of his cancer. If he recovers, he could be a defendant in a later case regarding another alleged massacre carried out during Saddam's rule, the lawyers said.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

This turn of events could be real bad for Saddam considering the man may be expecting to die which in effect makes this a death bed statement.

No comments from any of Saddam’s legal team have released any statements on this development, but I assume they are not very happy over this turn of events, since they expected to have three more weeks to prepare.

Lets hope after this witness testifies that more witness’s will come forward so he can get the speedy trial he does not want.

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
NEWS: Saddam Hussein Pleads 'Not Guilty'

[edit on 10/20/2005 by shots]

wecomeinpeace

posted on Oct, 20 2005 @ 12:12 PM

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OJ, MJ, and now Saddam. The tradition of Hollywood trials continues, complete with stunt doubles.

Will the REAL Saddam please stand up!

[edit on 2005-10-20 by wecomeinpeace]

subz

posted on Oct, 20 2005 @ 12:24 PM

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Ha! How do you cross examine a terminally ill prosecution witness? What happens if he dies? Does the court accept his testimony as gospel? I agree WCIP, I can see the movie rights for this being written up already.

shots

posted on Oct, 20 2005 @ 01:23 PM

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Originally posted by subz
How do you cross examine a terminally ill prosecution witness? What happens if he dies? Does the court accept his testimony as gospel?

He is not dead yet he can answer questions or at least give a verbal or written statement of the events as he perceived them at the time.

Normally when a statement is given from what can be considered as a death bed in the civilized world; it is taken to be true since there is no reason to lie when you are dieing.

jsobecky

posted on Oct, 20 2005 @ 02:26 PM

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The trial will resume at an unexpected session Sunday, rather then in three weeks as had been expected.

Could you explain where this 3 week figure came from? I thought the trial was adjourned for 45 days, to give Saddam's lawyers time to prepare.

Good decision regarding the witness, though!

shots, you probably should have made this trial a separate forum, like was done for Katrina.

shots

posted on Oct, 20 2005 @ 03:21 PM

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Originally posted by jsobecky

The trial will resume at an unexpected session Sunday, rather then in three weeks as had been expected.

Could you explain where this 3 week figure came from? I thought the trial was adjourned for 45 days, to give Saddam's lawyers time to prepare.

Good decision regarding the witness, though!

shots, you probably should have made this trial a separate forum, like was done for Katrina.

1. The judge did not give them the 45 days they wanted he only gave them 3 weeks.

2. As for the separate forum that was my idea also however the MODs thought other current events was sufficient in this case.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 10/20/2005 by shots]

jsobecky

posted on Oct, 20 2005 @ 04:51 PM

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. As for the separate forum that was my idea also however the MODs thought other current events was sufficient in this case.

I know you did; I was being sarcastic.

News in this afternoon is that a lawyer for the codefendants has been kidnapped. That separate forum would have been filling up fast, eh?