First Case Against Hussein, Involving Killings in 1982, Is Sent to a Trial Court

By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: July 18, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 17 - After more than 19 months in American custody, Saddam Hussein was referred for trial on Sunday in the first of more than a dozen cases of crimes against humanity that Iraqi and American investigators have been building against the deposed Iraqi dictator.

No date was set for Mr. Hussein's trial in the killing of 150 men and youths from Dujail, a town 35 miles north of Baghdad that was the scene of an assassination attempt against him in 1982. But Raid Juhi, chief investigative judge for the Iraqi Special Tribunal, who announced that he had ended his inquiry into the case and sent it to the trial court in a process known as a referral, said the date would be set "in the coming few days."

Officials at the tribunal said the five-judge panel that will preside at the trial envisioned a date in mid-September, not long after the expiration of the minimum 45-day period that Iraqi law gives defendants to prepare for trial after their cases have been referred to the trial court. But the officials, who requested anonymity because of the political sensitivities involved, cautioned that there could be delays if Mr. Hussein's defense lawyers present motions for dismissal on legal technicalities, as they have indicated they would. But even if these motions are filed and referred to an appellate court, the tribunal sources said, they were confident the case would go to trial later in the fall, probably in October