BAGHDAD, Iraq – Wearing a crisp white shirt, charcoal pinstriped jacket and full but groomed beard, the man in court looked more like a businessman than a humbled prisoner, and his tone was defiant from his very first words: “I am Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq.”
He was heard before he was seen in the courtroom, his chains clanking in the hall outside. With the shackles off for the proceedings, a fierce Hussein began challenging the young magistrate and the authority of the Iraqi court, scoffing at charges of war crimes and mass killings that could get him the death penalty.
“This is all a theater by Bush, the criminal,” he declared.
At times waving his fist and lecturing a judge who could have been half his age, the 67-year-old Hussein appeared to dominate much of the 26-minute exchange.
“I am Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq,” he said unprompted, sitting in a chair facing the magistrate on the other side of a wooden railing. When asked his name, he repeated it in full: “Saddam Hussein al-Majid, president of Iraq.”
He insisted he be referred to as “president of the Republic of Iraq” and began asking who the judge was and under what authority he was holding the hearing.
Speaking in strong tones, as if he was still commander in chief, Hussein also offered a bit of advice.
“The judicial system in Iraq always represents the will of the people,” he said. “You should not work according to the law of the occupying forces; these are invading forces.”
Unaccompanied by a lawyer, Hussein was presented with seven preliminary charges including gassing thousands of Kurds in Halabja in 1988, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the suppression of 1991 revolts by Kurds and Shiites, the murder of religious and political leaders and the mass displacement of Kurds in the 1980s.
A formal indictment with specific charges is expected later, and his trial would not likely start until 2005. It was not clear what punishment Hussein would face, but Iraq’s new government has decided to reinstate the death penalty, suspended during the U.S. occupation.
Hussein brushed off the charges, suggesting that he had immunity as the nation’s president, and refused to sign a statement listing them.
Hussein’s mood swung from anxious and exasperated to disdainful and angry. He appeared most agitated with the mention of Kuwait.
“The armed forces went to Kuwait. Is it possible to raise accusations against an official figure and this figure be treated apart from the official guarantees stipulated by the constitution and the law? Where is this law upon which you are conducting investigations?
“How could Saddam be tried over Kuwait, that said it will reduce Iraqi women to 10-dinar prostitutes?” Hussein asked. “He defended Iraq’s honor and revived its historical rights over those dogs.”
Calling someone a dog is a severe insult in the Muslim world, where the animals are considered unclean.
Afterward, the other defendants appeared one by one to hear the charges, including Ali Hasan al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali for his role in chemical weapons attacks against the Kurds, and Tariq Aziz, former deputy prime minister and former foreign minister. Most of the 11 others appeared tired, broken men, shadows of their former roles as masters of the Iraqi nation.
The next legal step will be for investigating judges to gather evidence against Hussein, which could lead to an indictment.
What he said
Quotes by Saddam Hussein at his hearing Thursday:
* On being asked his name by the judge: “Saddam Hussein al-Majid, president of Iraq.”
* On the hearing: “You know that this is all a theater by Bush, the criminal, to help him with his campaign.”
* On articles of the law: So now you are using the law that Saddam signed against Saddam. Saddam was the people.
* On the occupation of Kuwait: “How could Saddam be tried over Kuwait, that said it will reduce Iraqi women to 10-dinar prostitutes? He defended Iraq’s honor and revived its historical rights over those dogs.”
* On signing court documents at the end of the hearing: “Please allow me not to sign until the lawyers are present. … Anyhow, when you take a procedure to bring me here again, present me with all these papers with the presence of lawyers. Why would you behave in a manner that we might call hasty later on?”
* On whether he can afford a lawyer: “The Americans say I have millions hidden in Switzerland. How can I not have the money to pay for one?”
* To a guard assisting him in getting up to leave: “Take it easy – I’m an old man”
What he said
Quotes from Saddam Hussein at his hearing Thursday:
* On being asked his name by the judge: “Saddam Hussein al-Majid, president of Iraq.”
* On the hearing: “You know that this is all a theater by Bush, the criminal, to help him with his campaign.”
* On articles of the law: “So now you are using the law that Saddam signed against Saddam. Saddam was the people.”
* On the occupation of Kuwait: “How could Saddam be tried over Kuwait, that said it will reduce Iraqi women to 10-dinar prostitutes? He defended Iraq’s honor and revived its historical rights over those dogs.”
* On signing court documents at the end of the hearing: “Please allow me not to sign until the lawyers are present. … Anyhow, when you take a procedure to bring me here again, present me with all these papers with the presence of lawyers. Why would you behave in a manner that we might call hasty later on?”
* On whether he can afford a lawyer: “The Americans say I have millions hidden in Switzerland. How can I not have the money to pay for one?”
* To a guard assisting him in getting up to leave: “Take it easy – I’m an old man.”
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