Saddam’s Defense Team Will Boycott His Trial Indefinitely
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.
AMMAN, Jordan — Saddam Hussein’s defense team will boycott his genocide trial indefinitely, his chief lawyer said yesterday, accusing the judges of violating Iraqi law.
The move was unlikely to halt Saddam’s second trial, just as a similar walkout had no effect on his first, since the chief judge said he would appoint replacements after the lawyers stormed out of court last week. Proceedings resume today.
Still, the boycott could raise further questions about the court, which already was under fire over the replacement of the first chief judge after some Iraqis accused him of allegedly favoring the defense.
Saddam’s head lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, called the decision to replace Judge Abdullah al-Amiri a “flagrant violation of the law” because it was “dictated by the government and not the court.”
Mr. Dulaimi also accused the five-judge panel of committing “several violations of the law,” including refusing to hear non-Iraqi lawyers and requiring foreign attorneys to seek permission to enter the courtroom. Among Saddam’s nine lawyers are a Jordanian, a Spaniard, a Frenchman, and two Americans, including former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
“We will not just sit there gagged to give it legitimacy,” Mr. Dulaimi, an Iraqi, said. But softening his tone somewhat, he said he hoped that “the court will listen to our requests, and that’s when we’ll go back to the courtroom.”
Saddam and seven others have been on trial since August 21 for a crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas in the late 1980s. The prosecution says about 180,000 people, mostly civilians, died in attacks that included the use of poison gas against Kurdish towns and villages in northern Iraq. Saddam could face execution if convicted of genocide.
The defense also boycotted the final stages of Saddam’s first trial, for his alleged role in the deaths of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt against him in the town.
A verdict in that trial, which began October 19, 2005, is expected when the court reconvenes next month. Saddam and his seven co-defendants could receive the death sentence if convicted.
