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Saddam ejected for third time from
genocide trial
26.9.2006
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BAGHDAD, September 26, -- Saddam Hussein was
ejected from his genocide trial for a third day on
Tuesday and his co-defendants tried to storm out
after him, as chaos reined following the sacking of
the chief judge last week.
Judge Mohammed al-Ureybi had opened the hearing with
a lecture to Saddam not to disrupt the proceedings,
and allowed him to read a 20-minute written
statement, with microphones off so those in the
glass-enclosed press gallery could not hear.
But after listening to two Kurdish witnesses, Saddam
again began to argue and the judge lost his
patience.
"You are a defendant and I'm a judge," Ureybi said.
"Shut up, no-one talk ... The court has decided to
eject Saddam Hussein from court."
As Saddam left smiling, his six co-defendants -- top
officials under Saddam -- stood and tried to follow
him out, demanding they leave too. The judge shouted
back: "Get Saddam out and put the others back in
their seats."
Several co-defendants started shouting and pointing
fingers at the judge. Ureybi ejected one, former
defense minister Sultan Hashim, before ordering a
recess.
Unusually, the sound was left on for television
broadcasts, allowing all Iraqis to watch and listen
as pandemonium broke out in the courtroom for
several minutes.
Saddam was also expelled from the courtroom during
the last two hearings for protesting against the
sacking of Ureybi's predecessor as chief judge,
Abdullah al-Amiri. The government fired Amiri last
week for saying Saddam was "not a dictator".
Saddam and the other six could face hanging over the
deaths of an estimated 180,000 Kurdish villagers in
1988, including thousands killed by poison gas.
He and his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid -- dubbed
"Chemical Ali" by Iraqis -- face genocide charges.
Five others face charges of mass murder and crimes
against humanity. |
New Chief judge Mohammed Oreibi Al-Khalifa 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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International legal rights groups have said the
sacking of the judge could hurt the legitimacy of
the outcome of the trial. But prosecutors said Amiri
had been too lenient, allowing Saddam to threaten
witnesses. He once told accusers in court he would
"crush their heads".
The trial has featured moving testimony from
villagers recounting their suffering during the
Anfal -- "Spoils of War" -- campaign, when Saddam's
forces attacked Kurds accused of helping Iran during
the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
Before Saddam was ejected on Tuesday, the court
heard from Aasi Mustafa Ahmed, a villager in his 50s
who said he had been an Iraqi army conscript and
prisoner of war in Iran. When he returned home in
1990 he found his house destroyed and his wife and
four children missing, never to be seen again.
Asked if he sought compensation, he said: "If you
gave me the whole world, it wouldn't make up for one
of my children's fingernails."
All the defense lawyers walked out last week after
Amiri was sacked as chief judge and have not
returned, but court-appointed lawyers are in place.
The Judge adjourns the trial until October 9, 2006
Reuters
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