/ 28 September 2006

Saddam lawyers call for halt to trial

Saddam Hussein’s defence team on Thursday called for a halt to his genocide trial, saying it was a political “farce” to seek revenge against the ousted Iraqi leader.

“We call upon the public opinion with all its organisations and segments to work to stop this farce after it intentionally prejudiced the feelings of Iraqis, Arabs and all good people by repeatedly trying to offend the dignity of president Saddam and his comrades,” it said in a statement.

Saddam’s Jordan-based lawyers also accused the Iraqi government of “intervention … in nominating, appointing, removing and rewarding judges”.

“The trial has nothing to do with law or with seeking justice, a value which is being crushed down by the invading foreign boots,” said the statement.

“This court … is an instrument in the hands of the politicians and occupiers of Iraq designed to quench the thirst for revenge against the president [Saddam], his comrades and the Iraqi people,” it added.

And it described the court as “no more than a creature of the American-Persian occupation of Iraq”.

Earlier this month, the Iraqi government sacked chief judge Abdullah al-Ameri after he said Saddam was not a dictator, replacing him with Mohammed al-Oreibi al-Khalifah, a Shi’ite who was deputy presiding judge.

The removal of al-Ameri caused an uproar, prompting a walkout by the entire defence team who then went on to boycott the September 25 and 26 hearings.

The court has adjourned until October 9 to give Saddam and his six co-defendants — on trial for genocide against Iraq’s Kurdish minority in the 1988 Anfal campaign — time to contact their absent lawyers or hire new ones.

But Saddam’s lead Iraqi lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said no decision was taken yet to return to the trial.

“We have not taken a decision yet. We are now examining whether or not we will be present,” Dulaimi told said in a telephone interview. — AFP