Saddam again ejected from genocide trial

Saddam Hussein and one of his co-defendants were ejected from the courtroom in a tumultuous session in Baghdad today that saw the Iraqi defendants engage in a shouting match with the chief judge.

Saddam was removed first. Then his former defence minister, Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai, was kicked out after yelling at judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, head of a five-member panel, for throwing the former president out of the court.

The outburst began when Saddam refused to remain silent after repeated requests to do so by the judge.

“You are a defendant and I’m the judge,” al-Khalifa said, telling Saddam to sit down. A defiant Saddam refused and continued talking even though the judge shut off court microphones.

Saddam’s six co-defendants then began a shouting match.

“Shut up, no one may speak ...,” al-Khalifa shouted, pointing his finger at the defendant.

“The court decided to eject Saddam Hussein from the courtroom,” al-Khalifa added.

Saddam left with a smile.

The other defendants stood up in protest and demanded they leave too, but the judge refused.

Al-Tai, a defense minister under Saddam and one of six co-defendants in the trial, was the most vocal, insulting al-Khalifa and demanding he be able to leave as well.

The angry judge sharply ordered court guards to make sure all remaining defendants took their seats.

“I’m not sitting down,” al-Tai shouted, defiantly pointing his finger at the judge. “I served in the army for 44 years and no one dared to shout at me. We are polite and well behaved.”

Al-Khalifa growled: “You won’t leave, but you can remain standing – if you wish.”

But an enraged al-Tai kept yelling at the judge, who responded: “Don’t raise your voice at me. You are a defendant.”

“We decided to eject Sultan Hashim from the courtroom,” al-Khalifa yelled.

But al-Tai, joined by the other five-defendants, continued to challenge the judge, demanding that he “respect us.”

Hussein Rashid Mohammed, a top army official under Saddam, also demanded to be allowed to depart from the courtroom. “I also want to leave ... This is rude, you should be responsible (for us leaving).”

Al-Khalifa ordered a one-hour recess. The curtain was abruptly closed on the journalists gallery and microphones were cut off in the courtroom.

Saddam and the six 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.

Saddam could face execution if convicted of genocide.