Saddam Hussein shouted at Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin at the close of the fourth session of his trial Tuesday after the judge ruled the trial would resume the next day. Here is a transcript of the exchange, translated from Arabic by The Associated Press.
Hussein: “Are you deliberately hauling defendants before the trial when they are exhausted?”
Amin: “No, this is not deliberate. We have a number of plaintiffs who are already present, so tomorrow we will finish with a number of them and then the court will adjourn.”
Hussein: “This is your business, but I want to clarify to you that (sound is cut for several seconds, then resumes). We have spent these days in this shirt. There is no underwear, no chance to take a shower and no chance to smoke a cigarette if some do smoke, no chance for one to walk a couple of steps outside the small room. This is terrorism.”
Co-defendant Barazan Ibrahim: “To be honest, the situation has reached a level that we cannot put up with. Please. Please. There is favoritism, obvious favoritism.”
Amin: “No, not at all.”
Ibrahim: “You allow those (witnesses) to speak as they want.”
Amin: “The court has allowed you and them.”
Ibrahim: “The court did not allow us the same way it did with those hostile collaborators.”
Amin: “The court time makes it necessary that we finish the remaining plaintiffs tomorrow. We will continue with the other plaintiffs on other dates. We should take both sides into consideration.”
Amin and the defense attorneys argue back and forth; Amin sticks by his ruling.
Hussein: “I will not return, I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!”
Under Iraqi law, a court can force a defendant to attend a trial if he is not willing, said Iraqi lawyer Bassem al-Khalili.
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