Tough Security Measures for Journalists (at Saddam Trial)
Al-Mashriq is published daily by Al-Mashriq Institution for Media and Cultural Investments.
Journalists covering the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein faced tough security measures. Reporters were only allowed to carry their identification cards and pens and paper given to them by the authorities. They were taken into the heavily fortified Green Zone in vehicles with curtains on the windows to keep the location a secret. Upon entering the tribunal, journalists had to pass through X-rays under the supervision of US and Iraqi security. Saddam and seven of his former deputies are charged with crimes against humanity for the murder of 148 men in the village of Dijail in 1982.