Home > Lawyers ’denied access’ to Saddam
Thursday, 1 July, 2004 - Lawyers appointed by Saddam Hussein’s family to represent the ousted Iraqi leader say they have been repeatedly denied access to their client.
Mohammed Rashdan - one of a 20-strong team taken on by the family - has asked for international protection to enable him to visit his client.
In a BBC interview, he also alleged that he had received death threats from the Iraqi government.
Saddam Hussein is expected to face charges of war crimes and genocide.
He was appearing in court for the first time on Thursday.
’No justice’
Another lawyer said the defence team had got authority from Saddam Hussein’s wife and two daughters to say he wished them to represent him.
"The difficulty we face is we aren’t able to be officially recognised as his defence team until he has signed the power of attorney," Tim Hughes told the BBC.
"Moves are being made... for us to complete the legalities of making sure the power of attorney is fully recognised."
Mr Hughes also questioned whether his client could receive a fair trial.
"The [new] Iraqi constitution is illegal," he said.
"The appointment of judges has been all politically motivated... That is no justice," he added.
He accused to US-led coalition of putting on a show trial, and said he had been asking for access to his client "non-stop".
Mr Rashdan also questioned the court’s legitimacy.
"When they occupied Iraq, this is illegal and everything about that will be illegal," he said.
"They change the law and they didn’t have any council or parliament to change the law.
"All the procedure from the date of occupation of Iraq up until this moment is illegal and until this moment the law of Iraq is valid," he added.