 Two prosecution witnesses testified before an empty defendants' box Thursday amid a defense boycott of the troubled trial of Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi leader and his fellow accused, refusing to participate, watched by video linkup.
| No skin off my fore. You've got the right to confront your accusers, I'd say, but it's not an obligation... |
The chief judge — who had appeared determined to push ahead quickly with the trial whether the eight defendants attend or not — ordered a nearly two-week halt in the proceedings, apparently to give time to resolve a standoff that could hurt the trial's credibility.
| A two week halt isn't pushing ahead quickly. Or am I missing something? |
Saddam's original defence team refuses to participate in the trial unless chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman, who they allege is biased against the former leader, is removed. Saddam and four other defendants have rejected court-appointed lawyers and refused to attend Wednesday and Thursday. Abdel-Rahman ordered the remaining three defendants barred from the session Thursday after they, according to him, caused a disturbance outside the court. Their absence has meant two days of calm in the normally tumultuous court.
| That wasn't supposed to happen, of course... |
The two witnesses Thursday, who gave their testimony from behind a curtain to conceal their identity, recounted their detention along with their extended families and of torture and beatings at the Baghdad headquarters of the Mukhabarat, or intelligence agency. Both men named Saddam's half brother and co-defendant Barzan Ibrahim, who led the Mukhabarat at the time of their ordeal, as a participant in their torture. |