The first criminal case has been filed against Saddam Hussein, stemming from the 1982 massacre of dozens of Shiite villagers in retaliation for a failed assassination attempt against the former leader, the head of an Iraqi tribunal said Sunday.
Raed Juhi, chief judge of the Iraq Special Tribunal, said the preliminary investigation into the July 8, 1982, massacre in Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, has been completed, and the case was referred to the courts for trial. "The date for the trial will be determined within the few coming days by the gentlemen in the criminal court," Juhi said, according to The AP.
The court now has 45 days to declare a start date for the trial.
Saddam's co-defendants in the case are Barazan Ibrahim, intelligence chief at the time and Saddam's half brother; former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan; and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, at the time a Baath party official in Dujail.
