Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's lawyer on Thursday condemned what he termed the "illegal" detention of four defense witnesses who had appeared in court the previous day. "Their arrest is illegal. It is clearly aimed at scaring the defence witnesses," Khalil Dulaimi told journalists. "These witnesses did nothing but tell the truth and reveal fraud."
According to AFP, he said the US military and the Iraqi government were responsible for the "protection of the witnesses", and called for their immediate release.
A US official in Baghdad said the witnesses who accused the chief prosecutor of handing out bribes were detained by the Iraqi High Tribunal. "They are being detained for an investigation so that they remain in Baghdad to ask them questions about their testimonies and the allegations that prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi was at this celebration in Dujail," he said.
