More Hussein Signatures Authenticated, Judge Says
Handwriting experts authenticated Saddam Hussein’s signature on two documents approving the execution of 148 Shiites and the confiscation of their land, a judge in the ex-dictator’s trial said Wednesday.
The killings allegedly were part of a crackdown after a 1982 assassination attempt against Hussein in the town of Dujayl.
The judge later agreed to appoint a five-member panel to re-examine the signatures and adjourned the trial until Monday.
Hussein and seven other former regime officials are charged with crimes against humanity in connection with the execution and imprisonment of the Shiite villagers. Each could face the death penalty.
Hussein has refused to say whether the signatures were his. Some of his seven codefendants contend that signatures alleged to be theirs were forged.
The deposed dictator said little during the day’s two sessions, though he quarreled over a prosecuting attorney’s description of the victims.
“Don’t call them martyrs,” Hussein told the court.
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