Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on Monday defiantly refused even to enter a plea as charges were formally presented in a hearing that marked a new stage in his long-running trial.
Chief Judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman read out charges implicating Saddam and the other defendants in the massacre of 148 Shi’ite villagers in the 1980s, including accusations of torture, murder and the execution of minors.
But Saddam, who along with seven co-defendants could face the death penalty if found guilty, replied: ”I cannot reply yes or no to the charge.” He argued that the list of accusations was too long.
”A head of state is protected by the Constitution, therefore I cannot reply to the long statement,” Saddam said.
Rahman entered a not-guilty plea in any case, adding that ”you were [head of state] but now you are a defendant”.
”That’s no way to treat the president of Iraq,” Saddam retorted.
The judge went on to read the official charges based on the evidence presented since the trial began in October last year for each of the defendants in turn, who had to respond whether they were innocent or guilty.
In contrast to some of the more turbulent past sessions of the trial, the pace was swift and the judge was rarely interrupted as he read out the charges. All the other defendants pleaded their innocence.
The judge gave each defendant a summary of the events in Dujail, including the arrests, the interrogations first in an intelligence facility and then Abu Ghraib prison and finally the long internment of many villagers in a desert detention facility.
Saddam, his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti, the Ba’athist ex-intelligence chief, and former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan were charged with giving the orders that resulted in the events.
”Everything you have said is lies,” scoffed Barzan after his charges had been read.
Former judge of the revolutionary court Awad al-Bandar was singled out for convicting most of the victims in court and sentencing them to death.
The four other defendants, minor Ba’ath officials, were mainly charged with providing the names of people who were subsequently arrested, tortured, imprisoned and, in many cases, executed.
The judge said many people under the age of 18 were executed, a violation of international agreements that had been signed by Iraq during the rule of Saddam.
He also emphasised that carrying out orders or not having personally committed crimes would not serve as excuses for defendants.
The reading of charges means the defence can now begin presenting its case — with witnesses perhaps presented as early as Monday — in another indication of how the once-sluggish process has gathered momentum towards verdicts.
The court has heard evidence from prosecution witnesses and been presented with documents over its past 23 sessions.
Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi said it would be for the court to decide how many of the expected 60 defence witnesses would be heard.
At the end of a previous session, the ex-president’s lead attorney Khalil al-Dulaimi submitted a list of witnesses for the defence that had been kept secret for their protection.
The trial began on October 19 last year and a United States official close to the proceedings said the trial was expected to finish by mid-summer. This is the 24th session.
”I expect a verdict by the end of July or early August,” the official told reporters after the last session.
The past few sessions have seen the presentation of documentary evidence linking the defendants to the killings, including audio recordings and signatures on orders for executions.
On April 24, the prosecution presented a report by handwriting experts that upheld the authenticity of defendants’ signatures on the documents after challenges by defence attorneys.
The trial has been marred by the murder of two defence lawyers and the January resignation of the first chief judge, who critics say failed to clamp down on Saddam and his outbursts.
International human rights advocates say the trial continues to be conducted well below international legal standards.
After the Dujail trial, Saddam and six others are scheduled to face charges of genocide over the 1988 Anfal campaign that left an estimated 100 000 Kurds dead. — Sapa-AFP