Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched into a new tirade against his trial on Wednesday and lambasted the interior ministry as the tumultuous process resumed after a three week break.
The only defendant in the court, Saddam Hussein was dressed in a crisp black suit and appeared composed as judge Rauf Abdel Rahman reopened his trial on crimes against humanity at the high-security Baghdad courthouse.
Saddam, now also facing the looming threat of genocide charges in a separate case, described the interior ministry as a ”side that kills thousands in the street”.
He however was interrupted by the judge who told him to refrain from political statements to which Saddam retorted: ”You’re scared of the interior minister, he doesn’t scare my dog. I can’t refrain from politics, it’s in our blood.”
Saddam and seven other co-defendants are currently on trial for allegedly executing more than 140 inhabitants of the Shi’ite village of Dujail following an assassination attempt there against the deposed president in 1982.
The Iraqi High Tribunal on Tuesday said it would charge Saddam and six others for genocide for their role in the killing of Kurds in the late 1980s during the Anfal campaign which left more than 100 000 dead.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Saddam also charged that the witnesses presented by the prosecution in the case were bribed.
”The witnesses who testified were brought here after being bribed and briefed of what was to be said,” accused Saddam.
The defiant former Iraqi ruler also challenged the judge over a possible verdict against him.
”Who could dare to give a verdict against the president who defended his country and stood up against those who fought with Iraq?,” challenged Saddam.
Saddam’s testimony was often disrupted due to arguments between the judge, Saddam and his lawyers.
The three week recess was originally meant to give the judges time to draft the specific charges in the case, reexamine evidence and move the trial to the next phase, but much still remains to be done, chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi said last week.
Mussawi also said that the prosecution has new documents linking the defendants to the case.
The issue of documents will be central to tying the defendants to the crimes they are charged with, but several of the defendants cast doubt on the authenticity of the documents presented so far, many of which bear their signatures.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Saddam refused to give his signature for verification.
”If you want to authenticate my signature then the court should take recourse to a neutral or an international body,” Saddam said which was opposed by the judge.
Judge Abdel Rahman also revealed that some of the other defendants had also refused to give their signatures for verification when asked on Tuesday night.
A United States official close to the court said on Tuesday that Wednesday’s session could be a short one.
”The court will be adjourned to permit experts to analyse the handwriting in documents challenged by the defendants,” he said, predicting the analysis would take two weeks.
This delay is only the latest in the stuttering progress of the trial.
The previous 17 sessions of the trial so far have seen boycotts from defendants and their lawyers, lawyers assassinated, judges resigning and repeated grandstanding by Saddam and other former regime officials in the dock.
Following the last session, however, some experts noted that the trial seems to be settling into a kind of groove and actually moving forward.
”What’s been important about the last couple of sessions in March is that there has been no major crisis, which is a change,” said Miranda Sissons, a senior associate with the International Centre for Transitional Justice observing the trial.
”It is beginning to look like a legal process,” she said in comments, indicative of the lowered expectations for the trial.
With the defence rejecting the legitimacy of the court, there have also been concerns expressed internationally over the fairness of the trial.
In a report to the UN Human Rights Commission, Leandro Despouy, who monitors the independence of judges and lawyers, pointed to ”notorious failings” in the trial and suggested the accused should instead answer to ”an international tribunal which could count on the cooperation of the United Nations”.
For his part, though, Saddam has rejected suggestions from his defence team to move the trial out of Iraq. – AFP
