The Second defendant...

The Second defendant, the governor allowed him to excuse himself from his post in exchange for abandoning the governorship of Al-Rayy’ State, but Ibn Sa’d insisted, out of his ambitions, to take commandership of the army. Hence, the Third defendant became a completely responsible partner and direct participant to all what has happened from war crimes and mass murder in Karbala.

As for defending the Fourth defendant Shimr ibn Dhil Jawshan by claiming that he only shared his opinion and didn’t force anyone to accept it, it is a poor argument because the Fourth defendant adamantly sought and exerted efforts to fail the negotiation attempts for peaceful resolution, as we saw earlier. Furthermore, the Fourth defendant presented himself to Ibn Ziyad to be a replacement for the Third defendant, Ibn Sa’d. Al-Shimr was ready to accept the commandership of the battle…