Date for Hussein Dujail verdict to be announced Monday News
Date for Hussein Dujail verdict to be announced Monday

[JURIST] Jaafar al-Mussawi, chief prosecutor in the trial [BBC timeline] of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive], said Sunday that court proceedings will not resume Monday as scheduled. The Iraqi High Tribunal [JURIST news archive] is instead expected to announce the date the verdict against Hussein and his co-defendants will be delivered on crimes against humanity charges arising from the killing of villagers at the town of Dujail. A verdict in the case was originally expected October 16, but has been postponed [JURIST report]. An anonymous court official told AP that the verdict could be postponed until as late as the beginning of November.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Hussein [JURIST report] in June for allegedly killing, torturing and illegally detaining Dujail residents, including 148 Shiites [JURIST report]. Hussein faces separate genocide charges [JURIST news archive] for allegedly killing 100,000 Kurds during the so-called "Anfal" campaigns [HRW backgrounder] of the late 1980s. AFP has more.