The co-accused of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein resumed testimony on Monday in their trial over the killing of 148 people near the Shi’ite village of Dujail in 1982 following an attempt on the then president’s life.
On Monday, the trial heard Mohammed Azzawi, the former senior Ba’ath party member in Dujail, who denied earlier evidence in the case.
Azzawi denied involvement in bulldozing orchards in the village. He claimed to have had good contacts with the people there and said even his own orchards were bulldozered.
The second accused, Awad al-Bandar, the then chairperson of the Revolution Court that sentenced 148 villagers and ordered their execution, admitted to have done so under ”treason of the state” cover.
”I put on trial 148 accused in the Dujail events in two weeks,” he admitted. ”The court had the right to pass the judgement in one session.”
The trial later heard from former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan, who was head of the Popular Army at the time, a large paramilitary force secondary to the national army.
Ramadan alleged he was tortured during his detention by United States forces. He also denied earlier testimony by a witness who claimed Ramadan was involved in bulldozing orchards.
”I think the president talked over this issue in the previous session,” Ramadan said.
On March 1, Saddam admitted that he had ordered the trial of the 148 before his Revolutionary Court and ordered the bulldozing of the orchards. But he said he had the right to do so because they were accused of the attempt to kill him.
On Sunday, the court cross-examined Mizher Ruwaid al-Mashaykhi, a member of the then governing Ba’ath party from Dujail. Pleading his innocence, he said he had signed documents presented to the court as evidence without fully understanding them, as his sight was bad.
The cross-examination of a second party member, Ali Daim Ali, followed. He also claimed to have been an unimportant member of the Ba’ath party, saying he had had nothing to do with executions, adding: ”I have not done anything evil to people in Dujail.”
The trial is set to continue, but it remains unclear when Saddam’s testimony can be expected. — Sapa-dpa