JURIST - Paper Chase: Iraqi government promises heightened security for Saddam trial lawyers

[JURIST] Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Hussein Ali Kamal said Saturday that the Iraqi government will step up security measures for the 12 remaining defense lawyers representing Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] and his seven co-defendants. The announcement comes two days after Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi, a defense lawyer for co-defendant Awad Hamed al-Bandar, a former chief judge charged with issuing death sentences for 148 Shiites in Dujail without a hearing, was kidnapped and murdered [JURIST news report] by 10 masked gunmen. Lawyers for Hussein and his associates have voiced skepticism about the Iraqi government's ability to provide adequate security, citing frequent Sunni accusations that the Interior Ministry's security forces have been linked to militias that have carried out killings of Sunni Arabs, and ordered the execution of former Baath party members. Defense counsel Khamees Hamid al-Ubaidi has told reporters that the group is discussing protection with the Americans, and has called for a US investigation of al-Janabi's murder. AP has more.

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