Saddam Hussein was cross-examined for the first time in his 6-month-old trial
Wednesday, saying he approved death sentences against Shiites in the 1980s
because he believed the evidence had proven they were involved in an
assassination attempt against him.
![Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein argues with prosecutors while testifying during cross-examination in his trial held in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, Wednesday April 5, 2006. Saddam Hussein appeared in court Wednesday for questioning by judges and prosecutors in a new session of his trial on charges of killings of Shiites in the 1980s. [AP]](xin_470403052128981212736.jpg) Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein argues
with prosecutors while testifying during cross-examination in his trial
held in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, Wednesday April 5, 2006.
Saddam Hussein appeared in court Wednesday for questioning by judges and
prosecutors in a new session of his trial on charges of killings of
Shiites in the 1980s. [AP] |
Saddam, standing alone as the sole defendant in the courtroom, dodged some
questions from prosecutors over his role in the crackdown, giving long speeches
calling the court "illegitimate." He accused the current Shiite-led Interior
Ministry of killing and torturing thousands of Iraqis and bickered with chief
judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman.
The session came a day after prosecutors indicted Saddam on separate charges
of genocide, accusing him of trying to exterminate Kurds in a 1980s campaign
that killed an estimated 100,000 people. The charges will be dealt with in a
separate trial.
In the current trial, Saddam and seven former members of his regime are
charged in a crackdown against Shiites launched after a shooting attack on
Saddam's motorcade in the town of Dujail on July 8, 1982. In the sweep that
followed, 148 Shiites were killed and hundreds were imprisoned, some of them
undergoing torture.
Throughout Wednesday's questioning, Saddam ¡ª dressed in a black suit and
white shirt ¡ª appeared relaxed, frequently shooting grins at chief prosecutor
Jaafar al-Moussawi and even reciting a short bit of poetry to the judge.
Al-Moussawi asked Saddam about his approval for death sentences passed
against the 148 by his Revolutionary Court, which prosecutors have argued gave
the Shiites only a cursory trial.
"That is one of the duties of the president," Saddam replied. "I had the
right to question the judgment. But I was convinced the evidence that was
presented was sufficient" to show their guilt in the assassination attempt.
In a previous court session, Saddam acknowledged ordering the trial in which
the 148 Shiites were sentenced to death but has maintained his actions were
legal because they were in response to the attempt to kill him.
Al-Moussawi asked Saddam if he was aware that 28 of those sentenced to death
were under 18 years old and presented identity cards for some of the killed
minors. Prosecutors have earlier said an 11-year-old boy was among those killed.
Saddam replied that ID cards can easily be forged.
"There is a clear ulterior motive by those who have given you these
documents. You can buy IDs like this in the market," he said. "Is it the
responsibility of the head of the state to check the IDs of defendants and see
how old he is?"
"I could get ahold of an ID saying Raouf is 25 years old," he added, waving
toward the judge.
Al-Moussawi displayed a series of documents that he has previously shown the
court ¡ª including an approval of medals for intelligence agents involved in the
crackdown and approvals for the razing of Dujail farmlands in retaliation for
the assassination attempt. Al-Moussawi repeatedly asked if the signatures on the
documents were Saddam's.
But Saddam avoided a direct reply, refusing to confirm the signatures but
also stopping short of saying the signatures were forged.
"Any comment, matter or document signed by Saddam Hussein, and it has been
proven that the handwriting and the signature are his, then I take the
responsibility," he replied.
The prosecutors also showed a video they said was taken in the 1980s that
showed Saddam talking in an apparent interview about "enemies of the
revolution," saying, "I would chop off their heads without one hair of mine
shaking. ... As for the ranks of the enemies, if someone died during
investigations, he has no value."
The video appeared to be taken from an anti-Saddam film, as the scene of
Saddam talking was intercut with scenes of people being beaten. Pressed by the
judge, the prosecutor acknowledged that the tape was not directly connected to
the Dujail case but insisted it was relevant, asking Saddam what he thought
about his comments.
Saddam said they were shown out of context and that he was talking about
things "outside the borders" at a time when Iraq was at war. He dismissed the
video as "unrelated to this case."
When defense lawyer Bushra al-Khalil tried to comment on the video,
Abdel-Rahman accused her of being out of order and, after an argument, ordered
her removed from the courtroom.
At the beginning of the session, Saddam launched into a speech in response to
the prosecutor's first question, bringing repeated demands by Abdel-Rahman that
he answer the question.
Saddam denounced the court as illegitimate, saying "a body whose base and
formation is illegitimate and unjust can't pronounce justice. How could anyone
imagine that it could issue a verdict on the Iraqi president, who stood as a
sharp spear inside the eyes of those who planned and worked to poke Iraq's
eyes?"
He also denounced the current, Shiite-controlled Interior Ministry, calling
it a body "that kills thousands people on the streets and tortures them." Some
Iraqis accuse the ministry of backing Shiite militias that have assassinated
Sunni Arabs in a wave of violence since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine
in the city of Samarra.
"Don't venture into political matters," Abdel-Rahman replied.
"If you are scared of the interior minister, he doesn't scare my dog," Saddam
retorted.
Saddam had been due to testify and be questioned in the last session of the
trial, on March 15. But instead, he gave a rambling speech calling on Iraqis to
stop sectarian violence and unite to fight U.S. troops. After arguing with
Saddam, Abdel-Rahman closed most of the session to the public to allow Saddam to
finish his speech.