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I do not respond to this so-called court, asserts Saddam Hussein

Atul Aneja

Co-defendant challenges prosecution; trial adjourned to November 28; protest in Tikrit

MANAMA: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein launched a fiery attack in a Baghdad courtroom on Wednesday, questioning the legitimacy of the trial in which he has been accused of crimes against humanity.

Mr. Hussein refused to confirm his identity when asked to do so, and instead, questioned the validity of the trial and the judge.

The former President refused to confirm his name, when asked by chief judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin, a Kurd. "Who are you? What does this court want?" he asked, adding: "Have you ever been a judge before?"

Defiant stand

The judge said: "You are Saddam Hussein al-Majid ... former President of Iraq", at which point, Mr. Hussein interrupted him and said: "I did not say former President".

As the argument with the judge spiralled, Mr. Hussein affirmed: "I preserve my constitutional rights as the President of Iraq. I do not recognise the body that has authorised you and I don't recognise this aggression."

He said, "What is based on injustice is unjust ... I do not respond to this so-called court, with all due respect." Shortly afterwards, the judge informed Mr. Hussein and his seven co-defendants that the charges included murder, torture and forced expulsion, saying that the crimes could carry the death penalty.

The judge also told them of their rights, including that of a fair trial.

Mr. Hussein and his co-accused have been charged with ordering the killing of 143 Shia men in the town of Dujail in 1982, shortly after an assassination attempt against Mr. Hussein failed.

Asked to plead, Mr. Hussein said: "Not guilty".

The trial was later adjourned to November 28.

The adjournment did not come as a surprise as this was demanded by Mr. Hussein's lawyer, Khalil Al-Dulaimi, who said that more time was required to study the 800 pages of "evidence" that investigators had collected over the past two years.

Television pictures earlier showed the 68-year-old former President, wearing a dark suit with an open-necked shirt, and carrying a copy of the Koran, being bought into the courtroom.

He, along with his co-defendants, was seated inside white metal pens, arranged in three back-to-back rows, facing the panel of five judges.

The co-accused

Mr. Hussein's co-accused are Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, his half-brother who was his intelligence chief; former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan; Awad Hamed al-Bandar, a former chief judge; and Dujail Ba'ath party officials Abdullah Kadhem Ruaid, Ali Daeem Ali, Mohammed Azawi Ali and Mizher Abdullah Rawed.

The proceedings began shortly after midday. As the trial progressed, Mr. Hussein's defiance appeared to have rubbed off on the co-accused.

Several of them wore simple Arab robes, but demanded that their guards had denied them their headdresses.

These were then handed over to them.

One of the defendants, Mr. Azawi Ali, described in documents as a "farmer", stood up, harangued the judge and loudly proclaimed after raising his hand: "What have I done?"

Against the backdrop of the trial, a group claiming itself as the members of the Ba'ath party posted a statement on the Internet, urging Mr. Hussein's supporters to rise up and fight.

In Baghdad and nearby areas to the west, mortar rounds exploded near U.S. military bases. In Mr. Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, several young men gathered and raised slogans in his support.

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