Baghdad, Jan 15: Following are the important dates in Dujjail trial that led to the hangings of Saddam Hussein, his half brother and former Revolutionary Guard chief.
December 2006Iraqi appeals court upholds death sentence to saddam Hussein.
November 2006: Saddam Hussein is found guilty of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shias in Tigris river city of Dujail in 1982. He is sentenced to death by hanging.
Saddam Hussein and his half-brother sentenced to death by hanging
Awad Ahmad al-Bander al-Sadun, former Chief Judge of the revolutionary court and deputy head of Saddam's office, also condemned to death
Taha Yassin Ramadan, former Vice President, handed life in prison
Three Dujail Baath Party leaders -- Abdullah Khadem Ruweid, his son Mezhar Abdullah Ruweid and Ali Daeh Ali -- sentenced to 15 years each in jail
Local Baath official Mohammed Azzam al-Ali acquitted.
October 29: Saddam's lead Iraqi lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, drafts letter to US President George Bush warning of dire consequences if verdict is issued.
August 21: Start of another trial of saddam and six co-defendants, this time on charges of genocide during the 1988 anfal campaign against the Kurds.
July 27: The trial was adjourned till October 16 when a verdict was expected. But Saddam Hussein did not appear in court for this final session.
In fact, two defendants former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan and Awad Hamad al-Bandar were present in the court for summations.
July 26: Saddam Hussein returned to court. He said he was brought into the court forcibly from his hospital bed. He said that if he is found guilty – he would like to be shot and not hanged as he is of the belief shooting is the suitable means of execution of defence personnel.
July 24: The trial resumed without Saddam Hussein, who was hospitalised due to a hunger strike. The entire defence team had also boycott the session as they claimed their demands of a fair trial were not heeded.
Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman accused Saddam’s half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikrit, who was present in the court of having blood on his hands.
July 11: The Chief Judge adjourned the trial until July 24 stating that the entire defence should end their boycott of the session.
July 10: Saddam Hussein announced that he would boycott the session as it made mockery of the international and Iraqi law.
June 21: A third defence lawyer, Khamis al-Obeidi, is murdered. The following day Saddam begins a one-day hunger strike in protest.
June 19: Chief trial prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi delivered the final arguments for the prosecution, calling for Saddam Hussein, his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and the former Vice-President, Taha Yassin Ramadan, to be sentenced to death. He said: "They were spreading corruption on Earth... and even the trees were not saved from their oppression."
June 12: The trial resumed and was marred by angry outbursts. Barzan al-Tikriti was thrown out of the court after he argued with the Chief Judge.
Meanwhile, defence lawyer Curtis Doebbler asked the Judge for more time for the preparation of the defence's case.
June 05: The defence team contested the authenticity of the documents presented in the case, demanding the trial to be halted to investigate its claims. It also protested over the arrest of its four witnesses held on suspicion of making false statements.
June 2006: The High Tribunal said Saddam's second trial would begin August
21. Saddam and six co-defendants will face charges for the Anfal campaign, a series of attacks – including chemical attacks – that killed an estimated 100,000 Kurds in northern Iraq.
May 31: Defence accused prosecution of fabricating its evidence and called for the trial to be halted for an investigation into the claims. Meanwhile, an unidentified witness claimed Chief Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi offered him USD 500 to give false evidence and said his family was threatened.
May 24: Former Iraqi Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz testified for the defence, calling Saddam Hussein his "colleague and comrade for decades". He said that defendants could not be guilty for the deaths of 148 men following an assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein in 1982 and the state had a right to punish such an action.
May 15: Detailed charges are read out against Saddam Hussein as prosecution ends its side of arguments.
April 2006: Saddam and six others were charged with genocide in connection with a poison gas attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja in 1988. Saddam is cross-examined for the first time on April 05 and he dismisses the evidence as fake.
March 15: Saddam begins his formal defence by attacking the court as a “comedy”.
March 01: Saddam accepts for the first time in court that he ordered the trial of Shiite suspects implicated in the assassination attempt against him.
February 28: Saddam Huseein’s defence team makes first appearance in the court after boycotting the trial for more than a month on the grounds that the Chief Judge is biased.
February 14: Saddam and co-defendants shout and inform the court that they were on a hunger strike in protest of the way they were being treated. He appears for the second consecutive day in public in his long underwear.
February 02: The trial resumes and Saddam and four other defendants boycotted did not re-appear. While three co-defendants were barred by Judge from appearing for creating chaos and disorderly behaviour in the court.
February 01: The new Chief Judge said he would allow the trial of Saddam Hussein to proceed without the former dictator being present.
January 29: Saddam courts a walk out from the court after the Chief Judge removes his half-brother from the court room for complaining of not getting appropriate medical treatment for cancer.
January 24: The trail was postponed till January 29 after the court failed to convene.
January 23: The court appoints new interim Chief Judge Rauf Rashid Abdel Rahman, a Kurd, to take over from Rizkar Mohammed Amin, who resigned in the face of criticism over his alleged lack of firmness.
December 22: The trial was adjourned until 24 January after further graphic testimony about torture and killings. Saddam again interrupted proceedings to denounce US.
December 21: Saddam told the court that he was beaten by US troops while in custody.
December 07: The day was dominated by hours of wrangling over how to proceed as Saddam Hussein threatened to boycott the trial. In the end the trial was resumed without him and two anonymous witnesses gave evidence of alleged torture, before the hearing was adjourned until 21 December.
December 05: The first witness to appear in person at the trial gave evidence - angrily interrupted by Saddam Hussein and his half-brother. Saddam Hussein told the court he was not afraid of being executed.
November 28: The trial heard its first witness testimony after a 40-day break, from a former Iraqi intelligence officer who investigated the 1982 assassination attempt which triggered the alleged massacre in Dujail. Saddam Hussein complained that his foreign guards had taken his pen away, rendering him unable to sign court papers. At least four defence lawyers failed to turn up and the trial was adjourned until 5 December so the defence team could replace two murdered lawyers.
November 8: Adel Mohammed Abbas, lawyer for Saddam's former Deputy Taha Yassin Ramadan, is found murdered in Baghdad. Tamer Hammud, lawyer for co-accused Barzan al-Tikriti, is wounded.
October 19: The trial began in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad. Saddam Hussein defiantly questioned the validity of the court.
July 17, 2005: The special tribunal filed the first formal criminal charge against Saddam - after reviewing two million documents and interviewing 7,000 witnesses. The case involves the killings of 148 Shia Muslims in the northern Iraqi city of Dujail, after a failed assassination attempt in 1982.
Within days of the capture of Saddam Hussein in
December 2003, the Iraqi Governing Council set up a special tribunal to try the former President of Iraq, as well as several other officials.
Facts, figures from Saddam's Dujail trial
Key facts and figures in the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants in the deaths of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail:
Days of testimony: 39.
Hearings that Saddam boycotted or was ejected from:12
Prosecution witnesses who testified in court: 52
Prosecution witnesses who gave depositions but did not appear: 24
Prosecution witnesses who testified by video: 1
Defence witnesses: 56
Number of judges replaced: 2
Defence lawyers killed during the trial: 3
Number of Iraqis reported killed during the period the trial was going on: Iraqi police estimate more than 9,000, but no accurate figures are available.
Estimated total cost of trial, including security: Tens of millions of US dollars, no exact figure made public.