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Special report:
Trial of Saddam
Hussein
Special report: Tension escalates in
Iraq
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Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
testifies during his trial at the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad Sept.
19, 2006.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery
>>> | BEIJING, Sept. 25
(Xinhuanet) -- Saddam Hussein's defense lawyers said Sunday they will
boycott his genocide trial "indefinitely" when it resumes on Monday.
The claim was made after Saddam's defense team
stormed out of the previous hearing last week because the Iraqi government fired
the chief judge who had been criticized for allegedly favoring the defense.
The defense team will "suspend attending the trial
sessions in protest against the judge's behavior," said Saddam's chief defense
lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi.
"The court committed several violations of the law
and we will not just sit there gagged to give it legitimacy," said al-Dulaimi,
"the court will listen to our requests and that's when we'll go back to the
courtroom."
The defense team walked out of the last hearing on
Wednesday, as soon as the month-old trial resumed with a new judge. When his
lawyers left the room, the former Iraqi president was thrown out of the court by
the new chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa for protesting, and the trial was
continued with court-appointed lawyers and Saddam's six co-defendants.
Al-Dulaimi also criticized the competence of the new
chief judge, saying he "lacks the experience and the caliber needed in this
trial."
But al-Khalifa said after the lawyers stormed out
that he would appoint new lawyers if they refused to return
Saddam and his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, also
called "Chemical Ali" by Iraqis, face genocide charges for what prosecutors say
are the deaths of 180,000 Kurds, mainly villagers, some poisoned with chemical
gas. Five others face charges of murder and crimes against humanity; all could
be hanged.
International legal rights groups criticized the
sacking of the judge, saying it would hurt the legitimacy of the outcome of the
historic trial.
But prosecutors said the original judge was allowing
Saddam -- permitted under Iraqi law to address his accusers directly on a daily
basis -- to intimidate frightened witnesses. At one hearing he told his accusers
he would "crush their heads." Enditem
(Agencies)
 Saddam protests new judge
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| The new chief judge ordered ousted leader
Saddam Hussein from the courtroom on Wednesday after he protested the
replacement of Judge Abdullah
al-Amiri.(Photo:CCTV.com) |
Related
stories:
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Former Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein testifies during his trial at the fortified Green Zone in
Baghdad September 11, 2006.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery
>>> |
| BEIJING, Sept. 21 -- A new judge expelled a defiant
Saddam Hussein from his genocide trial yesterday and defence lawyers
stormed off in protest after the government sacked the chief judge,
throwing the month-old case into turmoil. |
| BAGHDAD, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The chief judge presiding
Iraqi ousted president Saddam Hussein's second trail on genocide has been
replaced, Al-Iraqiya state television reported on Tuesday.
|
| BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The trial of Iraq's
toppled leader Saddam Hussein and six of his co-defendants resumed in a
Baghdad court on Monday after a four-day
break. |
| BAGHDAD, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The trial of the deposed
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein resumed in a Baghdad court on Wednesday as
the chief judge was asked to step down. |
BAGHDAD, Sept. 11
(Xinhua)-- The trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein suspended until
Tuesday following the testimony of three witnesses on
Monday. |
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