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Iraqi Kurd group demands dismissal of
Saddam judge
17.9.2006
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Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq, September 16, -- A
Kurdish group Saturday demanded the dismissal of the
judge trying former president Saddam Hussein on
charges of genocide against Iraq's Kurds, accusing
him of bias.
"We demand the dismissal of the judge at the high
tribunal and the nomination of another competent and
neutral judge whose ideas are not polluted by the
fascist Baath" party, said the statement from the
Halabja centre against the extermination of the
Kurds.
Halabja was one of the Kurdish towns worst hit by
chemical weapons attacks during the Anfal campaign
which killed nearly 180,000 people from 1987-1988.
Saddam and six of his lieutenants are on trial in
Baghdad on charges of having ordered and carried out
the repression of the Kurds in the north of the
country during the military campaign.
"The attitude of (judge) Abdullah al-Ameri towards
the accused does not conform to international legal
practice in courtrooms worldwide or in such a
tribunal," the statement said.
"His friendly attitude towards the accused has
angered the families of victims and impartial
observers," the statement added, before saying the
judge's statement that Saddam was not a dictator
"was the straw that broke the camel's back".
In Friday prayers addresses, Shiite clerics took the
judge to task for not being firm enough with the
former president and even defending him.
During a courtroom exchange between Saddam and a
witness on the seventh day of the trial on Thursday,
the judge intervened and told Saddam "You were not a
dictator", and was thanked by the defendant for his
remark. |
Chief judge Abdullah al-Amiri on Saddam genocide
trial. Photo:AP
Former dictator Saddam Hussein (R), and his cousin Ali Hassan Al-Majeed
known as "Chemical Ali" (L)
Photo : AFP |
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Public prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon had a day
earlier called on Ameri to resign, accusing him of
being lenient towards the accused.
Ameri, who has 25 years experience and was also a
judge under the former regime, dismissed the demand
from Faroon, who also charged that the judge was
allowing defendants to threaten witnesses and their
lawyers.
AFP
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