Posted on 02/13/2006 2:00:07 AM PST by RWR8189
BAGHDAD (AFP) - A fiery Saddam Hussein is back in court after boycotting his trial on charges of crimes against humanity, but said he had been forced to appear.
"Down with the traitor, down with traitors, down with Bush.. long live the ummah (Islamic nation)... long live the ummah..long live the ummah..," roared the ousted Iraqi dictator as soon as he arrived in court on Monday.
"I was forced into the courtroom," Saddam angrily told chief judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman.
Barzan al-Tikriti, his half-brother and former secret police chief, frequently interrupted the session as guards were seen pushing him down into his seat in the dock.
The surprise appearance jolted the proceedings after the Iraqi strongman's chief attorney told reporters earlier Monday that Saddam and his seven co-defendants planned to continue skipping the hearings.
"No international law can force people to attend trials," Khalil al-Dulaimi, head of Saddam's defense team, told AFP.
"Unless you change the law and turn it into the law of the jungle."
First the defense lawyers and then Saddam himself walked out of the court in protest during a stormy session on January 29 in protest at the new presiding judge's decision to forcibly expel Barzan for being disruptive.
All eight defendants face the death penalty if convicted over the massacre of more than 140 Shiites after an attempt on Saddam's life in 1982 in the town of Dujail. They pleaded not guilty on the first day of the trial in October.
The high-profile trial has frequently descended into farce, with stormy sessions featuring long outbursts or walkouts by the defendants and their counsel as well as the resignation of the previous chief judge.
Ahead of Monday's court session, Dulaimi said the defense team had a number of conditions before they would return, including replacing presiding Judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman and prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi.
He also called for improved security for defense counsel and continuous television transmission of the trial without periodic cuts to ensure it is "transparent and fair".
Dulaimi, who calls the entire court illegitimate, warned the proceedings were dangerously adrift.
"They don't know what to do, because for a court you need a judge, a prosecutor, defense and defendants -- if two of them are not here, then there is no more court," he said.
Adding further drama, a member of the Amman-based legal team of the defendants said on Sunday that the eight men had decided to stage a hunger strike to protest attempts to force them to appear in court.
But this was swiftly denied by al-Dulaimi who told AFP in Amman: "All the reports about a hunger strike by Saddam and his co-defendants are without foundation."
A court official said three officials from the former regime will testify Monday -- Hassan al-Obedi, a former intelligence official, Ahmed Hussein Khudeir, a former presidential chief of staff and an anonymous third official.
The trial has now moved to its second phase, from victims testifying about abuses of security forces to witnesses, including regime officials, shedding light on the events of that period.
International human rights activists believe that Abdel Rahman has a tough job ahead of him.
"The Iraqi High Tribunal is at a crossroads," said Richard Dicker, director of the New York-based Human Rights Watchs International Justice Program.
"The court is fully entitled to discipline lawyers for misconduct. But if the court takes the drastic step of dismissing defendants' chosen attorneys and imposes new lawyers who the defendants reject, the judges are taking an enormous risk with the fairness of the trial."
As to Saddam and his little friends, a soundproof glass box with the sound piped in would be the solution.
That's what needs to be done.
They need to replace this judge with Judge Judy...
Now THAT would be entertaining! Judge Judy and Saddam going off on each other . . .
Anytime lefties enter a proceeding, they drag it down to street theatre.
They could put a digital voice box on him that makes his voice sound like Donald Duck.
Saddam launches courtroom tirade as trial resumes
Ok, who's suprised?.......anyone.....someone?
The day can't come too soon when this SOB is swingin' at the end of a rope.
If you cant duck it, f*@k it!!
Saddam is "looking haggard and wearing a robe." Taking a page from the Michael Jackson playbook?
The "little people" often show uncommon sense ;)
LOL Don't know if I want to apply that saying in this case. But hey, thanks for weighing in with an opinion ;)
Yeah, well just think how angry you'll be when you're forced into a noose, Scumwipe.
They should put him in a sound-proof glass bubble with one-way communication. Let him rant and rave without disturbing the proceedings. Each time he tries to breakout then zap him with electric shock.
Do you think the ACLU or Amnesty Int would have a problem with this?
Yeah, it's kind of like the "Blast Heard in Baghdad" headlines.
Duh. The sun also rises in the east and sets in the west.
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