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 Hussein dismissed his trial as a ”comedy” when he testified for the first time on Wednesday in a case that could see him and his seven co-accused hanged for crimes against humanity. The ousted Iraqi leader also called for resistance to the United States-led occupation, prompting Chief Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman to order the session closed.
Saddam Hussein’s half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, on Wednesday denied involvement in mass reprisals ordered against a village after the ousted Iraqi leader escaped assassination there in 1982. ”I arrested no one, it was the security services that were in charge” of operations in Dujail, Barzan said as the trial of Saddam and seven co-accused resumed before the Iraqi high tribunal.