One of the judges working on the trial of Sadaam Hussein was assassinated yesterday in Baghdad — perhaps the opening salvo in an attempt to intimidate those who are daring to bring Hussein to justice.
MSNBC reports:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A judge working on the special tribunal established to try Saddam Hussein and other senior officials in his toppled regime was assassinated Tuesday in Baghdad, but U.S. officials told NBC News that initial reports that the victim was the presiding judge were erroneous.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the person killed by unidentified gunman was not Ra’id Juhi, the 35-year-old chief investigative judge of the special tribunal set up to try Saddam and senior officials, but was another judge working for the tribunal.
The officials did not immediately identify the victim.
The killing came a day after the tribunal announced that five former members of Saddam’s regime — including one of his half-brothers — will go on trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed in retaliation for a failed attempt to kill the former dictator.
Clearly, all of those who are working on this case are quite courageous since they’re literally putting their lives on the line. The “insurgents” (p.c. word for “terrorists”) would love to butcher a batch of the judges and lawyers working on this case. Presumably, this unfortunate incident will lead to a tightening of security.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.