IRAQ: COURT GIVES DEATH PENALTY TO 15 IRAQIS OVER WEDDING MASSACRE

the Criminal Court of Karkh sentenced 15 Iraqis to death penalty after they were found guilty in the massacre of 70 people at a wedding party in 2006.
Firas Hassan Fleih al-Jubouri, a main criminal in the wedding massacre, and 14 codefendants were among the 25 arrested earlier by Iraqi security forces for connection to the massacre of Dujail City located 60 km north of Baghdad, spokesman of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council Abdul-Sattar al- Biraqdar told reporters here.
"These verdicts will automatically be appealed within 30 days starting from Thursday, and then the verdicts must be ratified by the Federal Appeals Court before sending them to the presidency for approval," Biraqdar told China's Xinhua news agency.
Jabouri was accused of leading a terrorist group that killed dozens of Iraqis, including a wedding party during the mass killing of the sectarian strife that engulfed the country after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.