On Sunday, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging for the murders of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following the 1982 assassination attempt on him.

After two days of anticipation of the Hussein verdict, civilians have been allowed back out into the capital and two other provinces, but vehicles remain banned until Tuesday morning. Police in Baghdad were allowing people to make essential journeys like going to hospital or buying provisions from shops that had opened. It has been reported that activity was already returning to the streets before the partial lifting of the curfew.

An automatic appeal will be launched against the sentence and is due to be heard by a panel of nine judges. If the sentences are upheld, the executions must be carried out within 30 days of the decision, meaning the hangings could therefore take place within two or three months.

The appeals process for the former Iraqi leader and his six co-defendants is expected to take only a few weeks. Two of the co-defendants were sentenced to death, one to life in prison and three to 15-year jail terms.

Saddam Hussein is due back in court on Tuesday when a separate trial for atrocities committed against Iraqi Kurds resumes, but Iraqi officials say the hanging would not be delayed artificially to allow this to take place. Some legal experts have argued that the Anfal killings trial should be allowed to reach a verdict before Saddam Hussein is executed. According to Saddam Hussein's defence lawyers, they have not received official notification of the death sentence, which they say is required before they launch their appeal. However, that is a technicality, and it shows how ineffectual a lot of the rules and regulations governing the trial process have been.

Breaking Legal News.com
Neal Andrea
Staff Writer