Saddam Judge Halts Trial in Effort To Resolve Boycott
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two defendants in the trial of Saddam Hussein made their closing arguments yesterday before the judge adjourned the proceedings for nearly two weeks in an attempt to resolve a boycott of the court by the former Iraqi leader and his lawyers.
The chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, said the court would resume on July 24 and warned that if the lawyers did not agree to return by then, court-appointed lawyers would make the final arguments for Saddam and three other top defendants in the case.
“The absence of the original lawyers to defend the defendant will harm the client’s case,” the judge said.
It was not clear if the long adjournment would delay verdicts in the nine-month-old trial, expected in mid-August. The court had hoped to hear the closing arguments for all eight defendants this week.
