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Defense Presents Witnesses in Saddam Trial

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 May 2006, 06:00 CDT

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The defense presented witnesses Tuesday in the trial of Saddam Hussein and former members of his regime, a day after the judge formally charged them with crimes against humanity that carry a possible death penalty by hanging.

Only three lower-level defendants were in the court - Abdullah Kazim al-Ruwayyid, his son Mizhar and Mohammed Azzawi - as the first witness took the stand, testifying from behind a curtain to protect his identity.

Under the Iraqi system, the announcement of charges against Saddam and his seven co-defendants effectively puts the burden of proof on the defense to dismiss the accusations, bringing the 7-month-old trial to a new, intense level.

The charges represent the accusations that the panel of five judges believe that the evidence so far has supported. Chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman read the charges Monday after months of hearing prosecution witnesses describe torture at the hands of Saddam's intelligence agents and documents allegedly tying the Iraqi leader to a crackdown against Shiites in the town of Dujail in the 1980s.

Calling Saddam before him Monday, Abdel-Rahman accused him of "crimes against humanity" by ordering a "systematic, wide-scale attack" on Dujail - including the killings of women and children, torture and the imprisonment of 399 people. He read similar charges against each of the remaining defendants.

Intelligence and security forces swept up hundreds of Dujail residents following a 1982 assassination attempt on Saddam in the town. Abdel-Rahman listed the names of 17 people - including women and children - out of some 46 that prosecutors say died in prison or from torture during interrogation during the sweep.

A group of 148 Shiites were sentenced to death by Saddam's Revolutionary Court for the assassination attempt, but Abdel-Rahman dismissed the court as a show trial, saying it was "swift" with "no possibility of appeal" and that some of those sentenced had already died in prison.

The first witness brought by the defense Tuesday was a son of Abdullah al-Ruwayyid and brother of Mizhar al-Ruwayyid. He told the court that he did not see either defendant with security forces that swept through the town the day of the July 8, 1982 shooting attack on Saddam's motorcade.

But the testimony turned into shouts and bickering between defense lawyers and Abdel-Rahman after the judge told the witness not to refer to Saddam as "Mr. President."

"We express our rejection over the court's interference in choosing the witness's words," chief defense lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said. "The defense team is insisting that President Saddam Hussein is the legal and legitimate president of Iraq and he is so despite the (U.S) invasion exists.

"What is built on falsehood is falsehood," he said, referring to defense arguments that the court is illegitimate because it was created under the U.S. military presence in Iraq.

"This is a pure criminal case, we don't have anything to do with politics," Abdel-Rahman shouted at the defense lawyers. "Your witness is a simple man with nothing to do with politics who is here to try to show your clients' innocence. Ask him questions."

The two al-Ruwayyids and Azzawi sat silently during the testimony, frowning and looking glum. The three former local officials in Saddam's ruling Baath Party are accused of informing on Dujail residents after the assassination attempt, leading to the deaths of some of those they pointed out to security forces.

Since the trial began, the defendants have tried to dismiss the court as illegitimate. Saddam on Monday defiantly refused to enter a plea to the charges and insisted he remained Iraq's president. Abdel-Rahman entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf, and the other defendants pleaded innocent.

The other main defense argument has been that the crackdown was a legal response to the shooting attack against Saddam, carried out by members of the Iranian-backed Shiite Dawa Party.

But in reading the charges, Abdel-Rahman appeared unconvinced by the argument so far. He underlined the women and children who died in the crackdown - reading their names repeatedly as he recited the charges against each defendant.

The prosecution has argued that the crackdown went far beyond the actual perpetrators of the shooting to punish the entire population of Dujail.

U.S. officials observing the court have said a verdict could come in August. If sentenced to death, the defendants would have the opportunity of appeal - raising the possibility of further months of legal proceedings.

The special tribunal is preparing to start a second trial against Saddam on genocide charges in a 1980s military campaign against the Kurds known as "Anfal" in which an estimated 100,000 people were killed.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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