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Legitimacy of Saddam trial challenged

Atul Aneja

Court is "made in America", says former Iraqi President

HIGH ESTEEM: Demonstrators hold a picture of the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, during a rally in his hometown of Tikrit in Iraq on Monday. — PHOTO: AP

DUBAI: The legitimacy of the court trying former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants has come into sharp focus, with foreign lawyers defending Mr. Hussein questioning the legality of the proceedings.

As the trial resumed, the former U.S. Attorney-General, Ramsey Clark, and the former Qatari Justice Minister, Najeeb Al-Nauimi, who are defending Mr. Hussein staged a 90-minute walkout after chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin declined them permission to address the bench.

Chaotic scenes

Chaotic scenes in the courtroom followed, where on one occasion Mr. Hussein, from the dock accused the court of being "Made in America." His half-brother Barzan Al-Tikriti, who is also facing trial shouted: "Long live Saddam." "Why don't you just execute us and get this over with?

The foreign attorneys were later allowed to speak and both of them questioned the legitimacy of the court, which was originally formed under American occupation. They also stressed the lack of security for the defence team, which they stressed undermined the basic principles of justice.

Mr. Clark in his presentation said, "This trial can either divide or heal. Unless it is seen as absolutely fair and is absolutely fair in fact, it will irreconcilably divide the people of Iraq. An essential element of fairness ... is protection."

He stressed that "There is virtually no protection for the nine Iraqi lawyers and their families who are heroically here to defend truth and justice," and referred to the two defence lawyers who were shot dead shortly after the trial began on October 19. "Without that protection a fair trial is impossible."

Chief judge Amin heard out Mr. Clark and asked him to stop exactly after the five-minute time allotted to him had lapsed. It was then the turn of Mr. Nauimi, who was allowed to speak for 15 minutes.

Mr. Nauimi made a scathing attack on the legality of the court, which he said was originally established under U.S. occupation and was therefore illegal under international law. "There's no legal basis for what's taking place, this is part and parcel of the legal system in Iraq," he said. "What we have seen is one country attacking another and then enacting a law in stark violation of international norms ... this land is becoming more American than Arab."

Soon after, the court heard its first witness in the case about the failed assassination attempt on Mr. Hussein's life in 1982, and the alleged reprisals by his government, which led to the deaths of over 140 men in the Shia town of Dujail.

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