BAGHDAD, July 24: Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein boycotted the latest hearing in his trial for crimes against humanity on Monday, amid reports that a 17-day-old hunger strike has weakened him.
No defence lawyers and only one of Saddam’s co-defendants came to the hearing at the Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad, triggering the ire of judge Rauf Abdel Rahman, who accused them of political grandstanding.
“The decision of the lawyers to boycott the hearing is designed to generate publicity and thwart the course of justice,” he declared.
Saddam Hussein and seven former allies are accused of having overseen the execution of 148 Shias from the village of Dujail in revenge for an alleged 1983 bid to assassinate the Iraqi leader.
The defendants and their legal team claim that the court is a front for US forces in Iraq and have refused to accept its authority. On July 7, Saddam and three defendants began a hunger strike in protest against their treatment.
Saddam’s half-brother and former secret police chief Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti did come to court, but then refused to accept a court-appointed lawyer and demanded to be excused and allowed to return to his cell.
The judge refused, and insisted that the defendant remain in place while the stand-in counsel pursued the case for his defence.
“Your lawyers are boycotting the procedure for political reasons,” the Kurdish judge Abdel Rahman said, insisting that his court is impartial.
Saddam’s defence team, three of whom have been murdered since the trial, are based in the Jordanian capital Amman, from where on Sunday they announced their intention to boycott the hearings.
“I’m here against my will,” declared Barzan al-Tikriti, but after being admonished by the judge he agreed to sit quietly in his pristine white robe and traditional red head-dress to hear the court-appointed lawyer’s defence.
Later, he rose to make another statement: “I am not interested in the defence case, because this lawyer does not represent me.
“This tribunal is not legitimate, because the United States invaded Iraq without a resolution from the UN Security Council. My presence here is contrary to the Geneva Convention,” he said.
The appointed lawyer, whose name was withheld and whose voice was disguised in television broadcasts, had urged the court to throw out the case.
“There is not a single piece of evidence to implicate my client in the Dujail affair,” he told the court.
Over the weekend, prosecutors said that 68-year-old Saddam’s hunger strike was harming his health and had led to him being given hospital treatment, but on Monday a spokesman for Saddam’s US jailers said his life was not in danger.
“Saddam Hussein continues to maintain his hunger strike and is voluntarily receiving nutrition through a feeding tube. His condition is constantly monitored by medical personnel,” said Lt Col Keir-Kevin Curry.
“Saddam Hussein and two of his co-defendants have now refused meals since their evening meal on July 7. All are protesting the Iraqi High Tribunal procedures and security for the defence attorneys,” he added.
“We are ensuring they receive proper care and attention. Detainees continuing to refuse meals are evaluated daily by medical professionals.”
Three of Saddam’s seven co-defendants have joined him in refusing food — Barzan al-Tikriti, ex-vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan and the head of Iraq’s former Revolutionary Court, Awad al-Bandar.
It was Bandar’s court which condemned the 148 civilians to death for the failed attempt on Saddam’s life.
The defendants face execution by hanging if found guilty on charges of crimes against humanity.
The Dujail case represents only one of several atrocities allegedly carried out by Saddam and his henchmen over his 24-year reign, and more trials are likely. —AFP
