Saddam Hussein's lawyers have formally appealed the death sentence handed tothe ousted Iraqi president in the killing of 148 Shia Muslims, a spokesman for theIraqi High Tribunal said Sunday.
The Iraqi High Tribunal, a panel offive judges in Baghdad,sentenced Saddam and two other senior members of his regime to death by hangingon Nov. 5. Theslayingsin the town of Dujail followed a 1982 attempt on Saddam's life.
On Sunday, the lawyers submitted appeals on behalf of all seven defendants, including death sentences against Saddam and two other aides for the revenge killings in Dujail, according toAgence-France Presse.
Oneof the defendants was sentenced to life in prison, three were sentenced to 15 years in prison and one was acquitted.
Under Iraqi law, death sentences are automatically appealed before a higher court within 10 days of their passage. But defence lawyers must file a formal appeal within 30 days, detailing the legal grounds for their action and presenting new evidence that could support their clients' claims of innocence.
"Today, defence lawyers came to the court and filed an appeal against the death sentence passed against Saddam Hussein and other sentences in the Dujail case," Raid Juhi, the spokesman for the tribunal, told the Associated Press.
No details were available regarding the documentsfiled with the court or how long it would take for any hearings to begin.
Two days after the death sentences were announced, the chief prosecutor said Iraq's appeals court was expected to rule on Saddam'sguilty verdict and death sentence by the middle of January.
