Saddam lawyer says document requests ignored News
Saddam lawyer says document requests ignored

[JURIST] Chief lawyer to Saddam Hussein Ziad Khasawneh [Atlantic Monthly profile] Thursday accused the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] and the US government of purposely ignoring repeated requests for legal documents and effectively keeping defense counsel unaware of the trial timetable. Khasawneh, a Jordanian and head of the Committee for the Defense of Saddam Hussein, said in an interview that he received no advance warning that Saddam was to be questioned about the 1982 massacre in Dujail [JURIST report]. Khasawneh said that although Saddam claimed innocence with regard to the nearly 160 villagers killed, "it is normal that any president in the world who comes under an assasination attempt. . . punishes those involved." Tribunal officials maintain that the trial will not be rushed [IST press release] to please Iraq's current government. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.