Tweet
Saddam Hussein ejected from courtroom!
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- For the second time in a week, the chief judge in the Saddam Hussein genocide trial ordered the deposed leader from the courtroom. Hussein was also ejected on Wednesday.
The verbal jousting began about two hours into Monday's court session as chief judge Mohammad Orabi Majeed Al-Khalefa corrected two other defendants in the case, telling them not to refer to each other by their old titles under the former regime.
That is when Hussein interjected and this heated exchange ensued:
Al-Khalefa: "Can you keep quiet. You have to respect the court."
Hussein: "I ask not to be present in this cage, because I do not want to be sitting here with you."
Al-Khalefa: "I would like to explain about the procedure in this court ..." (Hussein interrupts) "Can you keep quiet until I finish? If you have something to say ..."
Hussein: "I have a demand. I am not going to be quiet."
Al-Khalefa: "The court has decided to expel the defendant Saddam Hussein from this court."
Hussein: "I request, I demand not to be present."
Al-Khalefa: "Give him this demand -- take him out ... I decide if you are going to be present or not. That's my decision. Take him out."
Hussein's genocide trial had resumed Monday but without lawyers representing the ex-president or his six co-defendants.
Hussein's nine-member defense team announced Sunday that it would boycott the proceedings, citing the replacement of the chief judge and other alleged violations of legal procedures.
Khalil al-Dulaimi, Hussein's chief lawyer, told The Associated Press that he and other defense lawyers would boycott the trial "indefinitely."
Al-Dulaimi also protested the court's refusal to hear non-Iraqi lawyers and its demand that foreign attorneys seek permission to enter the courtroom.
Among Hussein's nine lawyers are a Jordanian, a Spaniard, a Frenchman and two Americans, including former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
Hussein and six others 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.
Hussein could face execution if convicted of genocide.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report
The verbal jousting began about two hours into Monday's court session as chief judge Mohammad Orabi Majeed Al-Khalefa corrected two other defendants in the case, telling them not to refer to each other by their old titles under the former regime.
That is when Hussein interjected and this heated exchange ensued:
Al-Khalefa: "Can you keep quiet. You have to respect the court."
Hussein: "I ask not to be present in this cage, because I do not want to be sitting here with you."
Al-Khalefa: "I would like to explain about the procedure in this court ..." (Hussein interrupts) "Can you keep quiet until I finish? If you have something to say ..."
Hussein: "I have a demand. I am not going to be quiet."
Al-Khalefa: "The court has decided to expel the defendant Saddam Hussein from this court."
Hussein: "I request, I demand not to be present."
Al-Khalefa: "Give him this demand -- take him out ... I decide if you are going to be present or not. That's my decision. Take him out."
Hussein's genocide trial had resumed Monday but without lawyers representing the ex-president or his six co-defendants.
Hussein's nine-member defense team announced Sunday that it would boycott the proceedings, citing the replacement of the chief judge and other alleged violations of legal procedures.
Khalil al-Dulaimi, Hussein's chief lawyer, told The Associated Press that he and other defense lawyers would boycott the trial "indefinitely."
Al-Dulaimi also protested the court's refusal to hear non-Iraqi lawyers and its demand that foreign attorneys seek permission to enter the courtroom.
Among Hussein's nine lawyers are a Jordanian, a Spaniard, a Frenchman and two Americans, including former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
Hussein and six others 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.
Hussein could face execution if convicted of genocide.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report
Saddam was ejected, but this was only after he kicked sand on the judge's feet. Many of Hussein's teamates had to restrain him!
Comment