Hussein’s Trial Set for Oct. 19; Defense Objects

Saddam Hussein will go on trial Oct. 19, Iraq’s government announced Sunday, although the ex-dictator’s defense team complained it would not have enough time to prepare.

Government spokesman Laith Kubba said Hussein and seven former aides would be tried for the 1982 massacre of 143 Shiite Muslims in Dujayl, a town north of Baghdad. The victims were slain after an assassination attempt on Hussein. He faces execution if found guilty.

A legal advisor to Hussein’s family, Abdel-Haq Alani, said starting the trial next month would “undercut the defense capability to review the case.”

“How can one review thousands and thousands of pages in just a matter of a few days?” he asked by phone from London. “This court has been deliberating with the evidence for the past year, but it has been keeping it away from the defense, which is not fair.”

Rather than lump all charges against Hussein into one mammoth trial, Iraqi authorities have opted for a series of cases focusing on specific atrocities. Iraq’s Shiite- and Kurdish-dominated government hopes that speedy trials for Hussein will expose crimes of his regime and undercut support for him among insurgents. The Iraqi tribunal said in July that it had filed charges against Hussein in the Dujayl case. By law the court must announce the start date for a trial within 45 days of filing charges.

The defendants will stand before the judge while he reads the charges against them. Defense lawyers will be given the chance to respond and ask for a postponement.