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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| al-Jizz reports on Saddam's Arraignment |
| 2005-07-22 |
| Al-Arabiya news channel aired on Thursday a videotape of Iraq's toppled leader Saddam Hussein being questioned by the Iraqi Special Tribunal over alleged crimes against Shiite Kurds. "You are accused of... deporting and confiscating money belonging to Shiite Kurds of al-Fayleyah," who were allegedly killed or deported to Iran on the eve of the Iran-Iraq war, the tribunal official, identified as Munir Hadad, told Saddam in the video. The Dubai-based satellite channel said the interrogation session took place Thursday. The interrogation is related to the treatment of al-Fayleyah Kurds, a minority Shiite sect within the mostly Sunni Muslim Kurdish population. Several of Saddam's deputies have been questioned in relation to the abuse of al-Fayleyah villagers. Long-bearded Saddam, who was wearing a white shirt, a suit jacket and glasses, appeared to be defiant and stared directly into the judge's eyes, who in turn seemed uncomfortable and avoided eye contact with the ousted president. The toppled leader also accused the current Iraqi government of being a U.S. puppet. "I am detained by the new government which was appointed by the Americans," he said before the judge interrupted him, saying: "It was elected by (Iraqi) people," he said. Saddam's lawyer, Kkhaleel al-Dulaime, who appeared with him in other hearings before the tribunal, was seen on the video taking notes on a legal pad. Saddam also protested that he hasn’t been allowed to see his lawyer, "How come that the lawyer does not see the defendant before the hearing, and does not get informed of the interrogation session?" he asked on the videotape. In one part of the video, Saddam lectured the judge about objectivity. "You should speak independently, whether in front of me or others... in front of a foreigner or an Iraqi," he said. The judge replied: "We are an independent court... We do not belong to anyone." Saddam was also seen signing a paper, while a voice was heard saying the paper was an authorization for his lawyer. On Sunday, a commission of Iraqi judges filed the first charges against Saddam in a case related to the 1982 killings of 143 Shiite men in the village of Dujail, northeast of Baghdad. The incident occurred after Saddam escaped an assassination attempt in the village. Saddam, his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim Al-Hassan, former vice president Taha Yasin Ramadan, former top judge Awad Badar Al-Bender and others will face trial in connection with the Dujail case. A trial date is expected to be announced soon. If convicted, Saddam could face the death penalty. Other investigations, including those of alleged genocide against the country's Kurdish and Shiite communities, were still continuing. Evidence in many of the cases will require the exhumation of mass graves sites, a task that has been complicated by the deteriorating security conditions in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |