Saddam trial opens with closed session
Afp, Baghdad
The trial of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein began on Wednesday after a delay of three hours with a closed session between defendants and the judge to discuss "procedural matters", said a court source. Judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman, whose no-nonsense court style resulted in the ejection of half the defendants on Sunday, called for the closed session with the defendants to discuss procedural matters. It is not clear if the session included all the defendants or just the four minor accused who remained on Sunday. The defense lawyers, most of whom are out of the country, issued a statement boycotting the trial and calling for the removal of the presiding judge. The court official said the closed session would only last half an hour and the ensuing open session would relate the events of the closed session. Earlier procedural wrangling again delayed the resumption of Saddam Hussein's trial, amid increasing enmity between the no-nonsense new judge and an indignant defence team. Judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman made his mark in the first session of the trial under his control Sunday, forcing the former Iraqi president out of the court and ordering guards to eject his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti. Neither a clearly irate Saddam, his defence team, nor any of the high profile defendants were expected to attend Wednesday's hearing amid continued questioning of the credibility of the tribunal.
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Following a closed session of court, the chair of Saddam Hussein remains empty, as his co-defendants, 1st row left to right, Mohammed Azawi Ali, Abdullah Kadhem Ruaid: and, 2nd row center, Ali Dayim Ali, appear for their trial held under tight security in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone yesterday. The Iraqi High Tribunal convened Wednesday for the ninth hearing of the trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants, accused in the 1982 killing of more than 140 Shiites after an assassination attempt against the president in Dujail. PHOTO: AFP |
