Defiant Saddam pleads not guilty
Saddam Hussein's trial has begun in Baghdad with the ousted Iraqi leader defiantly questioning the validity of the court before pleading not guilty.He refused to confirm his identity telling the presiding judge: "Who are you? What does this court want?"
After just over three hours, the trial was adjourned until 28 November.
Saddam Hussein's defence team had said they wanted a postponement to prepare their case, but Reuters news agency quoted the chief judge as saying the main reason was witnesses had not shown up.
"They were too scared to be public witnesses. We're going to work on this issue for the next sessions," Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin told the agency.
Asked to confirm his name by the chief judge, a Kurd, Saddam Hussein refused.
Amid some verbal sparring with the judge, the former Iraqi leader stated: "I preserve my constitutional rights as the president of Iraq. I do not recognise the body that has authorised you and I don't recognise this aggression.
"What is based on injustice is unjust ... I do not respond to this so-called court, with all due respect."
In Dujail, a few demonstrators gathered in the main square chanting: "Saddam Hussein should be executed, him and his whole family."
But in the former leader's home town of Tikrit, supporters vowed loyalty to Saddam Hussein with a banner saying: "We sacrifice our blood and soul for you, Saddam."
Watch a video of the trial here BBC (with translation)
my source : BBC
posted by _H_ at 3:47 pm
7 Comments:
Salami Milosavich was the first one to try this move... and I think he is still in court
yup but he was wrong , we Had a UN resolution to allow us to take out milosavich
this war was illigel and the lawyers know it
you have a kurdish judge LOL , so the victims actually try the accused !
you do not need to prove "beyond resonable doubt" as we do in every other democracy
it is a TV show G , this is entertaining stuff but it is not a far trial
this should be held in the hague not in iraq
of course he will be executed soon and it won't matter ,
and of course we all assume he is gulty as we have been told on the television that he is , so he must be right ?
everyone deserve a fair trial , Milosavich is getting one , saddam will not
another example of stupid behavour by the west that will do more to encourage terrorists then reduce them
I too think saddam is a nasty piece of work G so all the more reason to give him a fair trial
still it is good tv anyway
It is my understanding that there are 9 judges presiding over the trial. I assume that they are not all Kurdish. I guess you would be happy if they were all Bathists. In reality, you and the rest of the world (including many in the US) would bitch about the trail no matter how it is carried out. I am happy the he is being held accountable. I am happy for all the Iraqis and Kuwaitis who suffered as a result of his rule. It is important that the leaders of other countries like North Korea and Iran see that their actions could land them in Sadam’s position.
No trail is completely fair…and as seen so far, this trail will be medium for those around the world to show how evil the United States is. Personally, I don’t think he should be put to death, but that is now for the Iraqis to decide, not us.
NYC there are only three judges and only one of the judges has ever actually been a judge before
they have received special training from US, British and Australian experts that included a mock trial in London.
There will be no jury. The chief judge - there will be three judges in all - will question witnesses, many of whom he will have interviewed before the trial, and the three judges will decide the guilt or innocence of Saddam and seven co-defendants.
none of the judges are familiar with the humanitarian and war-crimes law that will pervade the trial,
I don't think i would have any sensible claim in calling this an un fair trial if it was held at the hague
where all war crimes should be tried
saddam was an evil dictator regardless of how angry i am at the US for the way they went about removing him , he should be tried for his crimes that is for sure
but by holding the trial in Iraq even before a constitution and a real Iraqi govenrment is in place and by "training" the judges in the US and UK there seems little effort is being made to show the world that this is being done fair
the lack of the need for facts "beyond resonable doubt " the lack of a jury
this trial is far removed from what we would call democratic justice
Saddam in the hague could not be argued
Sadam in the Hague does nothing for anyone but the international community who want to be involved because they think it makes them important. Now let us consider who really matter in all of this, the Iraqis. It is in their best interest to get this trial over with. the Iraqis need closure, not a never ending trial like milosavich is getting at the hague. Sadam deserves no better than the "fair trials" he gave the Kurds before he gassed them. He should have been "found dead" by the US, and the money spent on his show trial could then be used in projects to help the Iraqis.
you seem to forget NYC that Iraqis are very much divided on the issue of saddam
the sunni in the main would like and welcome him back as leader
the sunni are the minority in Iraq but the majority in the middle east
obviously they ar not going to get their leader back
my point :
well prevention of a civil war in iraq depends very much on the sunni's being included
that is why it is vital that saddam is seen to be given a fair and just trial ,
I feel that it is impossible for saddam to get a fair trial under these conditions in Iraq
that is why the hague is a just location , for in my view anything else will push Iraq closer to a civil war and nobody wants that
from my personal opinion i back you all the way on your view of saddam , however , please remember a layman's view (that we both have) is no bases for a fair trial
we only know of events such as the gassing of the kurds through media sources
the event was first reported by the Iranians when they re-captured the town during the war with Iraq
There are still some credible intelligence agencies that have not ruled out the possibility that the Iranians did the gassing themselves
I stick with the western view that it was saddam , but i have not a single piece of evidence to proove it
it is facts that matter here , and the evidence provided by an enemy of saddams who had motive (they wre at war) to blame saddam is not credible
If all they say about saddam is true then lock him up and throw away the key
but Iraq,the US , UK , Iran , kuiwat are all in no position to sit and judge
Kuiwats human rights record is as bad as saddams
that is a few of the reasons why the Hague is the right place
they are qualified to judge war crimes , nobody else is
correction , it is 3 senior and 2 minor judges , so to be accurate you could say there are 5 ,
none of them are sunni , the rest arwe evenly split between Kurd and shia
Post a Comment
<< Home