Nickdfresh
02-14-2006, 07:58 AM
Hussein: I am on hunger strike
Tuesday, February 14, 2006; Posted: 7:05 a.m. EST (12:05 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein returned to trial on Tuesday saying he and seven co-accused had been staging a hunger strike for three days to protest their treatment by the court.
"We have been on hunger strike for three days to protest the way they brought us to court," said the former president, who has accused the court of forcing him to attend hearings that broke his boycott of the sessions.
Hussein appeared in court again shouting slogans Tuesday as hearings resumed in his trial after a fiery session one day earlier.
Wearing a black suit, he stood before the judge and shouted "God is great" and "long live great Arab nation," news agencies reported.
Hussein shouted his support for Iraqi insurgents, yelling "Long live the mujahedeen," the Associated Press reported, while his top co-defendant Barzan Ibrahim entered wearing long underwear for the second day to signal his rejection of the court.
His half brother Barzan, who has said he has cancer and needs medical treatment, looked weak but had the energy to shout praise for Saddam's toppled Baath party. "I sacrifice my mother and father for the great Baath party," said Barzan, according to Reuters.
One of the co-defendants, Awad Hamed al-Bandar, also said he was not eating.
The trial adjourned until February 28.
The appearance Tuesday followed a stormy session Monday in which the toppled Iraqi leader created a scene by shouting "Down with Bush!"
In that session Hussein also yelled "Long live Iraq" and "Long live the Iraqi people." The former Iraqi president cursed the judge and called him a criminal.
A haggard-looking Hussein said then he was brought to court against his will. He didn't wear his customary suit but instead was dressed in blue galabeya -- a traditional Arab robe -- and dark blue overcoat. (Watch Hussein throw a courtroom tantrum -- 13:07)
At least one of the defendants briefly scuffled Monday with the guards who brought the unwilling men into court.
The courtroom outbursts came as the victims' complaint phase of the case came to a close and prosecutors brought in associates to tie Hussein and his co-defendants to a crackdown in Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt on the Iraqi dictator's life.
The judges read 23 witness statements for the court to hear. There was no reason given for why the witnesses did not appear in court.
The witness accounts were about arrests and torture in Dujail, a town north of Baghdad. Many townspeople were jailed and mistreated, and more than 140 Shiite males were killed. Hussein is a Sunni Muslim.
Documents -- such as execution orders signed by Hussein -- were put into evidence.
The trial often has been punctuated with verbal outbursts and legal wrangling that have seen Hussein's legal team boycott the case. They have called the proceedings illegal and biased.
Defense lawyers had told news agencies Monday that Hussein and his co-defendants planned to continue their boycott of the proceedings as long as Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman remained the chief judge.
Abdel-Rahman, who took over last month after his predecessor stepped down, has tried to clamp down on courtroom disruptions. (Full story)
Defense attorneys claim that Abdel-Rahman is unfit to try the case because he was sentenced to life in absentia in the 1970s for anti-state activity, according to AP.
CNN's (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/14/saddam.trial/index.html) Aneesh Raman contributed to this report.
http://www.maddogblog.com/images/yum-saddam.jpg
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006; Posted: 7:05 a.m. EST (12:05 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein returned to trial on Tuesday saying he and seven co-accused had been staging a hunger strike for three days to protest their treatment by the court.
"We have been on hunger strike for three days to protest the way they brought us to court," said the former president, who has accused the court of forcing him to attend hearings that broke his boycott of the sessions.
Hussein appeared in court again shouting slogans Tuesday as hearings resumed in his trial after a fiery session one day earlier.
Wearing a black suit, he stood before the judge and shouted "God is great" and "long live great Arab nation," news agencies reported.
Hussein shouted his support for Iraqi insurgents, yelling "Long live the mujahedeen," the Associated Press reported, while his top co-defendant Barzan Ibrahim entered wearing long underwear for the second day to signal his rejection of the court.
His half brother Barzan, who has said he has cancer and needs medical treatment, looked weak but had the energy to shout praise for Saddam's toppled Baath party. "I sacrifice my mother and father for the great Baath party," said Barzan, according to Reuters.
One of the co-defendants, Awad Hamed al-Bandar, also said he was not eating.
The trial adjourned until February 28.
The appearance Tuesday followed a stormy session Monday in which the toppled Iraqi leader created a scene by shouting "Down with Bush!"
In that session Hussein also yelled "Long live Iraq" and "Long live the Iraqi people." The former Iraqi president cursed the judge and called him a criminal.
A haggard-looking Hussein said then he was brought to court against his will. He didn't wear his customary suit but instead was dressed in blue galabeya -- a traditional Arab robe -- and dark blue overcoat. (Watch Hussein throw a courtroom tantrum -- 13:07)
At least one of the defendants briefly scuffled Monday with the guards who brought the unwilling men into court.
The courtroom outbursts came as the victims' complaint phase of the case came to a close and prosecutors brought in associates to tie Hussein and his co-defendants to a crackdown in Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt on the Iraqi dictator's life.
The judges read 23 witness statements for the court to hear. There was no reason given for why the witnesses did not appear in court.
The witness accounts were about arrests and torture in Dujail, a town north of Baghdad. Many townspeople were jailed and mistreated, and more than 140 Shiite males were killed. Hussein is a Sunni Muslim.
Documents -- such as execution orders signed by Hussein -- were put into evidence.
The trial often has been punctuated with verbal outbursts and legal wrangling that have seen Hussein's legal team boycott the case. They have called the proceedings illegal and biased.
Defense lawyers had told news agencies Monday that Hussein and his co-defendants planned to continue their boycott of the proceedings as long as Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman remained the chief judge.
Abdel-Rahman, who took over last month after his predecessor stepped down, has tried to clamp down on courtroom disruptions. (Full story)
Defense attorneys claim that Abdel-Rahman is unfit to try the case because he was sentenced to life in absentia in the 1970s for anti-state activity, according to AP.
CNN's (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/14/saddam.trial/index.html) Aneesh Raman contributed to this report.
http://www.maddogblog.com/images/yum-saddam.jpg
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.