Saddam criticises judge for cutting microphone

Saddam Hussein rebuked the chief judge of his genocide trial today, accusing the Iraq court of preventing him from defending himself.

“When the accuser and prosecutor talk, the world listens. When the man called ’the accused’ speaks, you switch off the microphone. Is this fair?” Saddam asked chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa in Baghdad.

The ex-president was referring to yesterday’s session when the judge switched off Saddam’s microphone after he began shouting a verse from the Koran, the Islamic holy book. When Saddam refused to heed the judge, he ordered court bailiffs to eject the deposed leader.

“You won’t lose anything by listening (to me); this is the duty of a judge,” Saddam said today, speaking calmly from the dock as his six co-defendants listened.

The judge replied that he had cut Saddam’s microphone to “bring order to the courtroom”.

“Clearly you wanted to give a speech when you started reciting a verse from the holy book,” al-Khalifa said. “You can talk if you want to defend yourself, but not to get into the political labyrinth.”

Saddam interrupted, but the judge cut the microphone again.

Saddam sat down and the judge called a witness to the stand.

Saddam and his co-defendants have denied charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during a military offensive against Iraq’s Kurdish population in 1987-88. Saddam and one other defendant are also charged with genocide against the Kurds.

The prosecution says about 180,000 people, mostly civilians, died in the military offensive, code-named Operation Anfal.

If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to death by hanging.