Former Iraq deputy minister faces terrorism trial
By Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A former deputy health minister accused of involvement in Iraq's sectarian violence will go on trial this week, the first senior official charged with terrorism since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, his lawyer said on Sunday.
Hakim al-Zamili will appear at the Criminal Court of Rusafa in Baghdad on Tuesday along with the former head of the security force that provides protection to the Health Ministry, his lawyer, Abu Firas al-Mutairi, told Reuters.
Mutairi said both men were innocent and the trial was politically motivated.
He said about eight people had filed charges against Zamili, a member of influential Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's political movement, and his co-defendant, accusing them of being the masterminds behind the killing of their relatives.
"My clients, Hakim al-Zamili and the security chief of the ministry, were referred by the investigative judge to be tried according to the Terrorism Law," Mutairi said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces raided the Health Ministry in February 2007 and arrested Zamili on suspicion he had infiltrated rogue members of Sadr's feared Mehdi Army into the ministry and had helped funnel millions of dollars to Shi'ite militiamen.
The arrest was condemned by Sadr's supporters at the time.
According to Mutairi, the two defendants were referred to the court based on article 4 of the Terrorism Law, which permits the death penalty for those convicted.
The law was passed by the Iraqi government in November 2005 to try those suspected of acts of terrorism.
"It's the first time since 2003 that a high Iraqi official stands trial on such a serious charge of terrorism," said Mutairi.
Sadr's movement had alleged that Zamili's arrest was part of a campaign to target them. Mutairi said the accusations against the two men, who are being held in U.S. custody, lacked any legal basis.
"If Hakim al-Zamili and his co-defendant were guilty of killing innocent people, I myself would support a severe penalty against them," the lawyer said. "We respect the law and we are confident in Iraq's legal system."
The arrest was seen at the time as evidence that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government would not stand for government officials, even fellow Shi'ites, fomenting sectarian bloodshed. (Writing by Michael Holden, editing by Tim Pearce)
