The trial of Saddam Hussein over the massacre of Shi’ites in the 1980s degenerated into a chaotic shouting match on Monday after the ejection of one of the deposed Iraqi dictator’s female lawyers.
Lebanese lawyer Bushra Khalil had returned to court after a long absence following her expulsion in early April by Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman for disrupting the proceedings.
But an argument immediately erupted after the trial resumed, and the judge ordered her thrown out again. She was escorted from the courtroom screaming, and tossing her robes at the judge, drawing protests from Saddam and other lawyers.
“You have to stick to the rules,” the judge told her. “You are a lawyer, you should behave by the rules.”
As Khalil was being removed, Saddam rose from the dock and gave the defiant statement that has become his signature at each session.
“I am Saddam Hussein. I am the president of Iraq,” he said with a raised fist.
“You were president, now you are the defendant,” retorted the judge.
Another defence lawyer complained about Khalil’s ejection, saying: “There is no law that gives the court the right to throw the lawyer out. We are defending these people, who were the honour of the nation. You have no right to insult a lawyer.”
“Calm down! Don’t shout,” Judge Rahman retorted. “You should calm down. It’s bad for your health. That is not the tone a lawyer should use. Calm down for a few minutes — I need some rest.”
Witness testimony was expected during the day on behalf of former revolutionary court judge Awad al-Bandar, who sentenced 148 Shi’ites from the village of Dujail to death after an attempt on Saddam’s life there in 1982.
Saddam and seven co-defendants face charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and torture over the deaths of the Shi’ites and could face execution by hanging if found guilty.
The trial, which opened on October 19, has been marred by repeated tirades from Saddam and other defendants, the murder of two defence lawyers and the January resignation of the first chief judge, who critics say failed to clamp down on Saddam’s outbursts.
Al-Bandar is accused of presiding over a kangaroo court that convicted the townspeople of Dujail, including many minors, with minimal evidence. He has defended his court and the death sentences he passed down.
“Even if their trial took place against the backdrop of the Iran war it was respectfully conducted and I do not think we violated any legal rules,” he said on April 6.
“The accused had all the rights and were defended by their lawyers,” he said. “I am a judge and my deep conscience does not allow [me] to sentence someone under 20 to death.”
Al-Bandar also denied that 42 of the 148 villagers could not actually make the trial because they had already died in prison.
Following the witnesses for al-Bandar, the defence will present testimony defending former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan and Saddam’s half-brother and former intelligence head Barzan al-Tikriti. Saddam’s turn will be next.
Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi told Agence France-Presse this phase could take a few weeks as nearly 60 defence witnesses will testify in the courtroom in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone.
Once defence testimony is complete, defence lawyers will give their closing statements, followed by defendants’ final statements, which will mark the end of the trial.
The proceedings could conclude by the end of June, a United States official close to the court said last week, with the verdict coming as early as July.
Saddam and his co-defendants were asked last week to enter a plea to the charges before the defence witness testimony phase of the trial, but the former leader defiantly refused to answer charges.
His team has refused to answer specific charges throughout the trial, preferring instead to attack the court’s legitimacy and the legality of the proceedings. However, when the trial opened in October, all pleaded not guilty.
International human rights advocates say the trial is being 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 killed an estimated 100 000 Kurds. — AFP