Iraqi court sentences ex-Hussein deputy to hanging

BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi court changed the sentence yesterday for Saddam Hussein's former deputy from life imprisonment to death by hanging for his role in the killing of Shi'ites, ignoring pleas from the United Nations and human rights organizations.

Taha Yassin Ramadan, who wore a traditional red-and-white checked headdress, angrily declared his innocence after the verdict was read.

"I swear to God that I'm innocent, Allah is my supporter and will take revenge on all who treated me unjustly," he yelled before he was led from the courtroom.

The decision had been expected after an appeals court ruled late last year that Ramadan's previous sentence of life in prison was too lenient.

The government welcomed the ruling against Ramadan, who was Hussein's vice president when the regime was ousted by the US-led invasion in 2003.

Bassam al-Husseini, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, dismissed the criticism by human rights groups and declared the death penalty was justified.

"He [Ramadan] is responsible for the murder of people. Where were those human rights groups during the days of the former regime when it killed and executed without trial?" Husseini said .

Last Thursday, UN human rights chief Louise Arbour filed an unprecedented legal challenge with the Iraqi High Tribunal against imposing the death sentence on Ramadan. She said she recognized "the desire for justice of victims in societies emerging from regimes that have engaged in or procured the most grave and systematic crimes."

But while the death penalty was permitted under strict conditions, Arbour said the trial of Ramadan "failed to meet the standards of due process" and capital punishment would amount to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," which is prohibited under international law.

Ramadan is the fourth member of the ousted regime to face capital punishment for the killings of 148 Shi'ites after a 1982 attempt on Hussein's life in the mainly Shi'ite town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

Hussein, his half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, also were sent to the gallows.

Ramadan said his duties were limited to economic affairs, not security issues.

"I have nothing to do with this case, I have nothing to do with the Dujail case from the beginning to the end. I came to know about this case just in detention, and I swear to God that this is the truth," Ramadan said before the verdict.

The chief judge, Ali al-Kahachi, said the case would be automatically appealed.