BAGHDAD, May 15: Iraq’s former military dictator Saddam Hussein refused to enter a plea after he was charged with crimes against humanity on Monday. Formally charging Saddam with crimes against humanity for the first time since the trial started in October, chief judge Raouf Abdul Rahman read out a 15-minute recitation of killings, torture, imprisonment and executions that followed an attempt on the Iraqi leader’s life in the Shia town of Dujail in 1982.
In court, Saddam dismissed the charges saying he had immunity and was still “president.” The judge entered a “not guilty” plea on his behalf.
“This statement cannot influence me or shake a hair of my head,” Saddam said, standing in the dock. “I am president of Iraq by the will of the Iraqi people.”
The judge replied: “You were, but not now.”
The case stems from the killing of 148 Shias after an attempt on Saddam’s life in 1982 in the village of Dujail.
CHILDREN, WOMEN TORTURED: Reading from the final charge sheets, Rahman said the ousted president ordered the killing and torture of hundreds in the village, including women and children, and that he sent helicopters and planes to pound Dujail, north of Baghdad.
Rahman said some of the men and women taken prisoner in Dujail by Saddam’s security forces were tortured with “blows to the head and electric shocks” and that five died under torture.
He also read out the names of 32 of the 148 who were under 18 and therefore should not have been executed under the then-existing Iraqi and international law, the judge said.
Saddam’s half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti, former intelligence chief, dismissed the charges read out to him as “lies”.
If found guilty, Saddam, 69, faces death by hanging.
Saddam, Barzan and six others were all charged with crimes against humanity. All eight defendants either pleaded not guilty or refused to enter a plea. Court officials say a verdict could come within months — though only after appeals that will probably be held up by a dozen or so other trials for Saddam.
Meanwhile, the US military said on Monday two US soldiers were killed when the helicopter was brought down on Sunday in the rural insurgent stronghold of Yusifiya, during a ground and air assault against guerrilla hideouts that killed more than 25 militants.—Reuters
