Tribunal questions Saddam on 1982 massacre, releases interrogation video News
Tribunal questions Saddam on 1982 massacre, releases interrogation video

[JURIST] The Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) [official website] said Monday that an Iraqi investigatory judge has questioned former dictator Saddam Hussein regarding the killing of nearly 160 men in the predominantly-Shiite village of Dujail, a case identified last week [JURIST report] as the first on which Hussein might be tried. The village was the site of an assassination attempt on Saddam prior to the killings. The IST Monday also released video footage of a haggared-looking Saddam and other members of his government being questioned by presiding judge Raad Jouhi in a court session believed to have taken place Sunday. Although Iraqi officials would like to start Saddam's trial in the next few months, the IST has not set a timetable [IST press release], not has it specified the exact charges for any such proceeding. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Fyodor Dostoevsky sentenced to death

Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death on November 16, 1849 over his involvement in the progressive Petrashevsky Circle of intellectuals. Dostoevsky and his codefendants were scheduled to be executed on December 22 of that year, but their execution was stayed by Tsar Nicholas I after the execution ritual had been carried out. Dostoevsky was sent to Siberia instead to serve a four-year sentence. Learn more about the mock execution of Dostoevsky.

Canada executed Metis leader for treason

On November 16, 1885, the Canadian government executed Metis leader Louis Riel for high treason in the wake of the "Northwest Rebellion" that had pitted the Metis (descendants of French traders and native tribes) in what is now Saskatchewan against Canadian troops. Although Riel has lately been rehabilitated as an Indigenous francophone patriot of the Canadian West, his trial and execution remain sore points between English and French Canada.

US President Nixon signs Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act

On November 16, 1973, US President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act into law. In addition to creating an oil pipeline across the state, the Act also quashed all environmental-legal challenges regarding its construction.