BAGHDAD, 25 July 2006 — Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein boycotted the latest hearing in his trial for crimes against humanity yesterday, amid reports that a 17-day-old hunger strike has weakened him.
No defense 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 and seven former allies are accused of having overseen the execution of 148 Shiite civilians from the village of Dujail in revenge for an alleged 1983 bid to assassinate the then 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 at 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 defense.
“Your lawyers are boycotting the procedure for political reasons,” the Kurdish Judge Abdel Rahman said, insisting that his court is impartial.
Saddam’s defense 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 headdress to hear the court-appointed lawyer’s defense.
Later, he rose to make another statement: “I am not interested in the defense 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 Conventions,” 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.
