Saddam's Lawyer Alleges Torture, Deception
AMMAN, Jordan, June 16, 2005 -- -- Earlier this month, Iraq's prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Saddam Hussein could face trial "in a matter of months."
The former dictator is alleged to have committed innumerable crimes during his 23-year rule, but he will only face 14 of the best-documented charges in his upcoming trial.
Those charges allege war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and he could face the death penalty if convicted.
Saddam Hussein's lead Iraqi lawyer, Kaleel Dolami, recently sat down with ABC News producers in Amman, Jordan. Hussein's Jordanian lawyer, Ziad Al Khasawneh, was also present.
The following report is exclusive to ABCNEWS.com. Dolami would not agree to an on-camera or audio interview.
Dolami talks about Saddam's allegations of torture, the dictator's contention that he was not captured in the "spider hole" and how curious U.S. interrogators have been about his purported weapons of mass destruction.
Q: I understand Saddam has been writing. Is he writing his memoirs, a book, keeping diaries?
A: He's not writing his memoirs, however he is writing poetry, fiction in jail. He has been given a copy of the Geneva Convention and he studies that and the Iraqi law.
Q: Take me back to the day when he was arrested. What has Saddam told you happened that day? Has he ever been tortured?
A: He was arrested at a friend's home when he was praying. He was not inside the hole. The owner told the Americans he was there. He was drugged. He was beaten the first two days by a translator and an American soldier when he was arrested. They beat him in the face, they broke his leg, they whipped him. His left leg was broken by the people that arrested him. The president has no recollection of being in the hole. He thinks they put him in the hole. When you see the pictures of the doctor examing his cheeks it was because the beating of the face.
[Khasawneh interjects:] The deputy president was also tortured, for 25 days. They put him in a very hot room, without air conditioning. Then the slowly dropped small droplets of cold water on him and they beat [him] up.
Q: Tell me about his daily life, what he does besides writing, does he exercise?
A: He reads the Koran, he prays, he writes, he has 1½ hours of exercise outside in the morning and another hour and a half in the evening.
Q: Has he been tortured since he's been in jail, since those two days at the beginning you mentioned?
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