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Saddam's new judge from Halabja
25.1.2006
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The court trying Saddam
Hussein has replaced its chief judge a day before
the former dictator returns to the dock.
The Iraqi Special Tribunal yesterday named Raouf
Rasheed Abdel-Rahman, a Kurd from Halabja, where
5,000 died in a gas attack during an offensive by
Saddam’s forces, to succeed Rizgar Amin.
Judge Amin, who is also Kurdish, quit after
criticism of his handling of the dictator. Since the
beginning of the trial Saddam’s tirades from the
dock have delayed proceedings and angered many
Iraqis, including senior politicians.
Judge Amin had been expected to be replaced by his
deputy on the five-judge panel, Judge Said al-Hammish.
But Judge al-Hammish was yesterday moved to another
case, said Raad Juhi, the chief investigator.
Another new judge will be brought in to replace him.
Mr Juhi denied that Judge al-Hammish had been
transferred because of controversy surrounding
accusations by the de-Baathification committee,
given the task of removing former Baath party
members from public office, that he had been a
high-ranking Baathist. |
Former dictator Saddam Hussein
Photo : AFP
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The controversy has thrown a cloud over the handling
of the trial, with defence lawyers and international
rights bodies calling for it to be held abroad, and
claiming that the trial risks being seen as unfair
if it continues in Baghdad.
Two defence lawyers were kidnapped and murdered just
after the trial began in October. Another judge was
forced to step down because he discovered that he
was related to a victim in the case. A key
prosecution witness also had to give filmed
testimony from his death bed in the final stages of
a terminal disease as the trial started.
Saddam and seven co-defendants, including his
half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Taha Yassin
Ramadan, the former vice-president, stand accused of
ordering the deaths of 143 men from Dujail after a
failed assassination attempt in 1982.
The tyrant has held long tirades denouncing the
court and claiming that he had been abused by court
wardens and denied basic privileges, such as showers
and access to writing material, during the
proceedings.
The court is to resume hearings today under the
auspices of the new acting chief judge.
www.timesonline.co.uk
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