JURIST - Paper Chase: Saddam co-defendant's lawyer to boycott trial over stolen papers

[JURIST] A lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants in the so-called Anfal trial [JURIST news archive; HRW backgrounder] said Monday that he will boycott the trial when it resumes on October 30 because some 1,000 pages of his documents were stolen from the lawyer's lounge in the Iraq Supreme Court building. Badia Arif Izzat, defense lawyer for former Iraqi intelligence director Farhan al-Jubouri [TrialWatch profile], was also the target of a September raid where armed men entered his law offices and kidnapped his secretary and stole computers and files. Izzat also represents former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz [BBC profile], who is in the custody of coalition forces [JURIST report] in Iraq.

Last week, one of Hussein's five co-defendants claimed he was beaten by US guards [JURIST report] after Hussein and the co-defendant were tossed from court [JURIST report]. Defense lawyers have been boycotting the trial [JURIST report] to protest the behavior of Chief Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, appointed by the Iraqi government after the original presiding judge was removed [JURIST report] last month for saying in court that Hussein was not a dictator [JURIST report]. Aljazeera has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...