14 DAY TRIAL // The half-brother of Saddam Hussein, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, has died of cancer before being administered the death penalty. He has been on death row for the past four years.
Al-Hassan was Hussein's presidential adviser and second in command. He was also chief of intelligence security of the Mukhabarat system under Saddam.
He was caught in 2005 in Syria and deported to Iraq, the Daily Mail reported. A reward had been previously offered for information potentially leading to his capture.
At that time, he was on the US Most Wanted Iraqis list, at number 36. Authorities have dubbed him a key pin in the Saddam regime.
He was tried and convicted under several death sentences in March 2009 and he was bound to die by hanging.
He yelled “God is great” adding that he was “proud to be a martyr” as his sentence was being read out in court.
When he became ill, al-Hassan was transferred to a hospital in Baghdad where he lived out the rest of his days.
Saddam was caught in December 13, 2003, and he was hung in December 2006. He had previously been tried and found guilty in the mass murder of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites.
Al-Hassan's son, Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim, was also caught in Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, and then charged. He was sentenced to life in prison, but fled in 2006 and could be hiding out in the northern part of Iraq.
His brothers, Watban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti and Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, have been charged as well.
Watban was tried, convicted and also died by hanging in January 2007. Watban was convicted and he got the death penalty in March 2009, but he was in US custody at the time. He was deported in 2011, but his sentence is yet to be administered.