Felix the Cat
01-29-2006, 11:50 PM
Trial descends into chaos (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17979988-401,00.html)
THE setback-plagued trial of Saddam Hussein hit fresh controversy under its new judge overnight, as the former Iraqi president walked out from the court and his half-brother was ejected.
Kurdish judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman, appointed from outside the chamber, attempted immediately to stamp his authority on the trial after the controversial resignation of his predecessor Rizkar Mohammed Amin.
"I want to leave the court," Saddam told the judge.
"Then leave," said the judge.
"I led you for 35 years and you order me out of the court," retorted Saddam.
"I am the judge, you are the defendant. You have to obey me," said the judge. After further verbal exchanges, Saddam walked out, escorted by guards.
Amid scenes of chaos, Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, half-brother of Saddam and one of the co-defendants in his trial, was physically ejected from the court by guards on order of the new judge.
"Get him out," said the judge, ordering the guards as Barzan stood up to deliver a lengthy statement about his medical condition.
Mr Rahman appointed four defence lawyers, but two other defendants, Taha Yassin Ramadan and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, said they did not agree with the appointment and demanded to leave. They were escorted out, and the proceedings resumed, with the court hearing an anonymous female prosecution witness.
The balding Mr Rahman, dressed in a suit and his judge's robes, earlier leant back impassively in his chair as proceedings got underway and then put on spectacles to begin reading the opening statements.
The trial's first session of the new year last week had been adjourned early owing to what the court said was the absence of the necessary witnesses, in a further setback for a process already criticised for being too slow.
THE setback-plagued trial of Saddam Hussein hit fresh controversy under its new judge overnight, as the former Iraqi president walked out from the court and his half-brother was ejected.
Kurdish judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman, appointed from outside the chamber, attempted immediately to stamp his authority on the trial after the controversial resignation of his predecessor Rizkar Mohammed Amin.
"I want to leave the court," Saddam told the judge.
"Then leave," said the judge.
"I led you for 35 years and you order me out of the court," retorted Saddam.
"I am the judge, you are the defendant. You have to obey me," said the judge. After further verbal exchanges, Saddam walked out, escorted by guards.
Amid scenes of chaos, Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, half-brother of Saddam and one of the co-defendants in his trial, was physically ejected from the court by guards on order of the new judge.
"Get him out," said the judge, ordering the guards as Barzan stood up to deliver a lengthy statement about his medical condition.
Mr Rahman appointed four defence lawyers, but two other defendants, Taha Yassin Ramadan and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, said they did not agree with the appointment and demanded to leave. They were escorted out, and the proceedings resumed, with the court hearing an anonymous female prosecution witness.
The balding Mr Rahman, dressed in a suit and his judge's robes, earlier leant back impassively in his chair as proceedings got underway and then put on spectacles to begin reading the opening statements.
The trial's first session of the new year last week had been adjourned early owing to what the court said was the absence of the necessary witnesses, in a further setback for a process already criticised for being too slow.