UPDATE: Its not the chief judge ..its a member of the tribunal of the judges on the case... MORE...
NBC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: NBC'S JIM MIKLASZEWSKI REPORTS TONIGHT THAT THE JUDGE IN THE SADDAM HUSSEIN TRIAL HAS BEEN ASSASSINATED.
Tue Mar 01 2005 19:09:22 ET
BRIAN WILLIAMS INTRO:
Good evening. We're going to begin here with an NBC News
We've learned tonight the violence in Iraq has claimed another victim, and this time, it is a high-profile target: a man who knew he had a dangerous job. There is word from Baghdad this evening -- confirmed by NBC News -- that the presiding judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein has been assassinated. American television viewers at the time remember him as the brave man on the bench but at the time only the back of his head was visible on television because the risk to his life was that obvious. He lived amid heavy security. Tonight his death is a graphic reminder of the everyday danger still in Iraq. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski is with us from the Pentagon tonight. Jim good evening.
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI REPORTING:
Good evening Brian. NBC News has learned that the judge, 35 year old Raid Juhi was apparently gunned down today as he left his home in Baghdad. Now Juhi was seen on video but just barely last July during the initial court appearances of Saddam Hussein.
The young judge at the time gained widespread respect and admiration when he stood his ground against the belligerent former dictator who launched into a lecture during the proceedings.
Juhi had already been the target of several assassination attempts, and was forced to move into a walled compound with his wife and three small boys behind concrete walls that could withstand bombs.
He normally traveled with armed escorts, but the details around his assassination today remain unclear.
He was a former prosecutor under the former Saddam Hussein regime -- and as an investigative judge was handling 12 high profile cases, including Saddam Hussein and the infamous Chemical Ali.
U.S. officials see the assassination today as an attack not only on the judge, but the entire Iraqi judicial system. Nevertheless, they predict despite today's assassination, the legal proceedings against Saddam Hussein will remain on course. A date for Saddam's next court appearance has yet to be scheduled.
Developing...
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