BAGHDAD - The trial of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein resumes on Wednesday with further testimony from witnesses detailing abuses they suffered at the hands of the former Iraqi regime.The trial of Saddam and seven associates for perpetrating the massacre of Shiite villagers of Dujail in 1982 was adjourned on December 7 for two weeks following three days of dramatic courtroom events. Witnesses, many hidden behind screens with disguised voices, relayed chilling tales of torture while Saddam and his associates loudly disputed their testimony and condemned the court.
The hearings for the remaining five âcomplainantâ witnesses are not expected to extend past Thursday. Then, the much-delayed trial is likely to be adjourned again until mid-January to make way for Christmas, the announcement of Iraqâs election results, New Yearâs and finally the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which comes in the second week of January. At this point, the final phase of the judge-led âtruthseekingâ phase of the trial will take place with further eyewitness and documentary evidence.
The court is expected to break for another extended period to evaluate the evidence and then issue formal charges. Following the issuing of formal charges, the defense and prosecution themselves can call up their own witnesses.
Prosecutor Jaafar Al Mussawi told AFP on Monday that the defense would âpresent 40 witnesses, including three ministers from the former regime and other people currently being detainedâ by US forces in Iraq. However, the Jordan-based defense team swiftly denied Mussawiâs remarks as âtotally untrueâ and added that it still considered the tribunal illegal.
Defense lawyers, who include former US attorney general Ramsey Clark and Qatari minister of justice Najib Al Nuami, have challenged witness testimony as confused, fabricated and not directly implicating their clients. According to prosecutor Mussawi, an unidentified French lawyer has also joined the defense team.
On Monday, just before leaving Jordan for Baghdad and the trial, Nuami told AFP that the defense team may yet boycott the trial because it had still not received the necessary assurances of security from the tribunal. The defense team has complained about threats to their lives. Two defense lawyers have been killed since the opening of the trial in October.
The trial has been followed closely by Iraqis and has exposed the divisions in society with each court session triggering demonstrations both for and against Saddam in different parts of the country. Around his home town of Tikrit, demonstrators shouted their support for Saddam and denounce the trial as rigged and illegal, while in the village of Dujail and in the Shiite-dominated south, people called for his swift conviction and execution.