IRAQ. SADDAM HUSSEIN PREFERS DEATH BY FIRING SQAD, REPORT
former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein told two of his lawyers that if he was sentenced to death for war crimes, he would rather die by firing squad than by hanging, The Washington Times said.
former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein told two of his lawyers that if he was sentenced to death for war crimes, he would rather die by firing squad than by hanging, The Washington Times said.
"I don't value this life that much. Every human being has his time to go," lawyer Issam Ghazzawi said Saddam told him when they met in a basement of a Baghdad courthouse on December 7 during a break in his trial.
Ghazzawi said he and former US attorney general Ramsey Clark raised the possibility that the former dictator might be sentenced to death if convicted of war crimes.
"I am the commander in chief... I prefer it to be by firing squad," Saddam answered, according to the lawyer, adding that it was "the right way" to execute a military leader.
The ousted Iraqi ruler, who was facing charges of ordering the 1982 massacre of 140 people, said he was innocent of the charges but pessimistic about his future. "Of course I'm not guilty, but I know they want me dead," Saddam said. "Threatening me with death doesn't mean anything," he told the two lawyers. "I don't care less. The life of any one Iraqi is no less valuable than mine."
"I don't value this life that much. Every human being has his time to go," lawyer Issam Ghazzawi said Saddam told him when they met in a basement of a Baghdad courthouse on December 7 during a break in his trial.
Ghazzawi said he and former US attorney general Ramsey Clark raised the possibility that the former dictator might be sentenced to death if convicted of war crimes.
"I am the commander in chief... I prefer it to be by firing squad," Saddam answered, according to the lawyer, adding that it was "the right way" to execute a military leader.
The ousted Iraqi ruler, who was facing charges of ordering the 1982 massacre of 140 people, said he was innocent of the charges but pessimistic about his future. "Of course I'm not guilty, but I know they want me dead," Saddam said. "Threatening me with death doesn't mean anything," he told the two lawyers. "I don't care less. The life of any one Iraqi is no less valuable than mine."
— SOURCES
- (Sources: Agence France Presse, 03/01/2006)