No one would doubt the story if it had been Saddam Hussein.
Yes.
Have you ever seen the documentary about how Saddam Hussein came to power?
How he gathered all the important men in Iraq, both in and out of government in a large hall, then one by one, called them out as traitors. As they were led out, weeping and shrieking, the remaing ones shouted out their loyalty to Saddam Hussein, until many of them were called out and removed from the hall as well.
Then, he had the remaining “loyal” ones shoot with handguns the ones who had been removed as traitors.
A truly evil man.