Saddam Prosecutor Transferred from the IHT — Likely Illegally

The media may have forgotten about the Iraqi High Tribunal now that Saddam is dead and buried, but that doesn’t mean its problems have gone away. Case in point — the talented Chief Prosecutor at Saddam’s trial, Jaffar al-Moussawi, has been demoted and transferred after criticizing the Tribunal’s “financial and ethical corruption” and opposing the execution of Sultan Hashem, Saddam’s former defense minister:

He said the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT), set up to try former members of Saddam’s regime, had transferred him from Baghdad to the northern city of Sulaimaniya as an investigative judge.

The head of the tribunal, Abdul-Razak al-Shahine, could not be reached for comment. His son said he was travelling in the United States and that no telephone number was available to contact him. The tribunal does not currently have a spokesman.

Dressed in his red and black prosecutor’s robes, Moussawi became a familiar face during Saddam’s televised 2006 trial for crimes against humanity. Saddam was hanged on December 30, 2006.

“The decision to remove me was made after I wrote a memo on January 14 to the IHT head disclosing legal breaches and violations committed by judges inside the court,” Moussawi said.

“The more serious issue which I mentioned in my memo was the financial and ethical corruption inside the court.”

He also said he was being targeted for his request to the court to reduce Saddam minister Hashem’s death sentence.

[snip]

Moussawi said the tribunal did not have the power to transfer him. This could only be done by the presidency council, which includes Talabani and Hashemi.

“The prosecution is an independent body and is not under the authority of the court. I will never obey this order,” said Moussawi, who served as chief prosecutor for three years.

Moussawi’s legal position appears sound. Article 4(Fourth) of the IHT Statute provides that “[t]he Presidency Council in accordance with a proposal from the Council of Ministers shall have the right to transfer Judges and Public Prosecutors from the Court to the Higher Judicial Council for any reason.” And although Article 6(First) authorizes the “Judges and Public Prosecutors Affairs Committee” — a five-member committee elected by and from the IHT’s judges and prosecutors — to fire a prosecutor, as well, Article 6(Second) makes clear that the Committee’s decisions are simply advisory:

Second: The committee shall submit a recommendation, after the appeal before the extended panel of the Federal Court of Cassation is denied, to the Council of Ministers to pass a resolution from the Presidency Council terminating the service of a judge or a public prosecutor, including the chief justice in case the provisions of Article (6) of this Law are met.

Like Article 4, then, Article 6 makes the Presidency Council the ultimate arbiter of whether a prosecutor should be removed from the IHT. The Presidency Council has not authorized Moussawi’s demotion and transfer — which means they are in direct violation of the IHT Statute.

Then again, when did that ever stop the IHT?