At Saddam's trial, a judge with his defenses up

BAGHDAD The stakes in the humbling trials against Saddam Hussein and 11 of his top deputies could not be higher: Death is once again the ultimate punishment here.

And death is something that the young investigative judge who sat before Saddam - presiding with remarkable firmness and control, given that he faced a man all Iraq had once feared - worries is the price he may pay for helping bring the law back to Iraq.

The judge spoke with composure about the reality that he himself may become a target: he told another journalist recently that three attempts had been made on his life. To reduce the danger, his name is not being released.

"We need to build our country, of course, and to do that there will be victims," he said in an interview after the court hearing. "If I am going to be among them, I accept it. The most important thing is that we build a country based on justice. There can be no future for us without law."

A few years shy of 40, the judge silenced men much older than he, despite the deference accorded to the elderly in traditional Arab culture. He stood up to men who ruled by crushing dissent with violence, who, according the charges put before them, were responsible for the torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in the 35 years that the Baath Party was in power. The tone was set in the first moments after Saddam had his chains removed and he took his seat, perhaps 3 meters, or about 10 feet, from the judge.

"Profession?" the judge asked, according to a translation by CNN. "Former president of the Republic of Iraq?"

Saddam replied: "No, present. Current. It's the will of the people."
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The judge, his back to the camera, did not allow that to stand. "The head of the Baath Party that is dissolved, defunct," he said. "Former commander and chief of the army. Residence is Iraq. Your mother's name?"

Saddam answered, then asked the judge "to introduce yourself to me."

The judge answered: "Mr. Saddam, I am the investigative judge of the central court of Iraq." He did not tell Saddam that he had been on the bench during his rule, or that he had studied at the Baghdad College of Law and was an investigator in the capital before becoming a judge.

"So you are an Iraqi that - you are representing the occupying forces?" Saddam taunted the judge.

"No," the judge said, "I'm an Iraqi representing Iraq."

The judge also rebuked Saddam firmly when he referred to Kuwaitis as "animals," saying: "Don't use foul language and attack. This is a legal session."

Saddam responded: "Then forgive me."

Later in the day, it became clear that the judge had decided to let Saddam speak longer than the other defendants, whom he cut off far more quickly. He gave Saddam some leeway as they jousted over the validity of the laws governing the proceedings - and the judge reminded Saddam that the sections of law that require the rights of defendants to be read to them had been signed by Saddam himself. Saddam insisted that he was "a man of law," but protested that he was above it. "Is it allowed to call a president elected by the people and charge him according to a law that was enacted under this will and the will of the people?" Saddam asked. "There is some contradiction."

The judge answered: "The president is a profession, is a position, is a deputy of the society. That's true. And originally, inherently, he's a citizen. And every citizen, according to the Constitution, if this person violates a law, has to come before the law. And that law you know more than I do."

In fact, the laws under which Saddam and the others will be tried are a mix of existing Iraqi criminal law, international humanitarian law and laws that predate the ascension of the Baath Party to power in 1968.

In the hearings on Thursday, the men were not charged under specific statutes. The specific charges will be worked out in the next several months, tribunal officials said. Court officials also said that the rules of evidence had not been completed.

In a surprise that became evident during the hearing, the new Iraqi interim government decided to overrule a U.S. ban imposed last year and restore the death penalty. The judge informed each of the defendants that he faced death under Section 406-1-A of Iraqi criminal law. Unlike several of the defendants, who were clearly rattled when the judge told them they faced the possibility of death, Saddam did not visibly react. Salem Chalabi, the head of the tribunal, said that the new government had decided in principle to reinstate the death penalty but that the formal order had not been signed. The decision reverses a suspension of the punishment imposed last year by L. Paul Bremer 3rd, the U.S. official who had run Iraq after the invasion last spring until the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis on Monday.

Under the death penalty statute, civilians face death by hanging. Military officials may face a firing squad. Chalabi would not speculate on how Saddam, who as head of the armed forces often appeared in military uniform, might be executed, saying it would be improper to comment because Saddam had not been tried. "What difference does it make at this point?" he asked.

Saddam's trial is not expected to begin until next year.
.
The New York Times BAGHDAD The stakes in the humbling trials against Saddam Hussein and 11 of his top deputies could not be higher: Death is once again the ultimate punishment here.

And death is something that the young investigative judge who sat before Saddam - presiding with remarkable firmness and control, given that he faced a man all Iraq had once feared - worries is the price he may pay for helping bring the law back to Iraq.

The judge spoke with composure about the reality that he himself may become a target: he told another journalist recently that three attempts had been made on his life. To reduce the danger, his name is not being released

"We need to build our country, of course, and to do that there will be victims," he said in an interview after the court hearing. "If I am going to be among them, I accept it. The most important thing is that we build a country based on justice. There can be no future for us without law."

A few years shy of 40, the judge silenced men much older than he, despite the deference accorded to the elderly in traditional Arab culture. He stood up to men who ruled by crushing dissent with violence, who, according the charges put before them, were responsible for the torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in the 35 years that the Baath Party was in power. The tone was set in the first moments after Saddam had his chains removed and he took his seat, perhaps 3 meters, or about 10 feet, from the judge.

"Profession?" the judge asked, according to a translation by CNN. "Former president of the Republic of Iraq?"
.
Saddam replied: "No, present. Current. It's the will of the people."

The judge, his back to the camera, did not allow that to stand. "The head of the Baath Party that is dissolved, defunct," he said. "Former commander and chief of the army. Residence is Iraq. Your mother's name?"

Saddam answered, then asked the judge "to introduce yourself to me."

The judge answered: "Mr. Saddam, I am the investigative judge of the central court of Iraq." He did not tell Saddam that he had been on the bench during his rule, or that he had studied at the Baghdad College of Law and was an investigator in the capital before becoming a judge.

"So you are an Iraqi that - you are representing the occupying forces?" Saddam taunted the judge.

"No," the judge said, "I'm an Iraqi representing Iraq."

The judge also rebuked Saddam firmly when he referred to Kuwaitis as "animals," saying: "Don't use foul language and attack. This is a legal session."

Saddam responded: "Then forgive me."

Later in the day, it became clear that the judge had decided to let Saddam speak longer than the other defendants, whom he cut off far more quickly. He gave Saddam some leeway as they jousted over the validity of the laws governing the proceedings - and the judge reminded Saddam that the sections of law that require the rights of defendants to be read to them had been signed by Saddam himself. Saddam insisted that he was "a man of law," but protested that he was above it. "Is it allowed to call a president elected by the people and charge him according to a law that was enacted under this will and the will of the people?" Saddam asked. "There is some contradiction."

The judge answered: "The president is a profession, is a position, is a deputy of the society. That's true. And originally, inherently, he's a citizen. And every citizen, according to the Constitution, if this person violates a law, has to come before the law. And that law you know more than I do."

In fact, the laws under which Saddam and the others will be tried are a mix of existing Iraqi criminal law, international humanitarian law and laws that predate the ascension of the Baath Party to power in 1968.

In the hearings on Thursday, the men were not charged under specific statutes. The specific charges will be worked out in the next several months, tribunal officials said. Court officials also said that the rules of evidence had not been completed.

In a surprise that became evident during the hearing, the new Iraqi interim government decided to overrule a U.S. ban imposed last year and restore the death penalty. The judge informed each of the defendants that he faced death under Section 406-1-A of Iraqi criminal law. Unlike several of the defendants, who were clearly rattled when the judge told them they faced the possibility of death, Saddam did not visibly react. Salem Chalabi, the head of the tribunal, said that the new government had decided in principle to reinstate the death penalty but that the formal order had not been signed. The decision reverses a suspension of the punishment imposed last year by L. Paul Bremer 3rd, the U.S. official who had run Iraq after the invasion last spring until the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis on Monday.

Under the death penalty statute, civilians face death by hanging. Military officials may face a firing squad. Chalabi would not speculate on how Saddam, who as head of the armed forces often appeared in military uniform, might be executed, saying it would be improper to comment because Saddam had not been tried. "What difference does it make at this point?" he asked.

Saddam's trial is not expected to begin until next year.

The New York Times BAGHDAD The stakes in the humbling trials against Saddam Hussein and 11 of his top deputies could not be higher: Death is once again the ultimate punishment here.

And death is something that the young investigative judge who sat before Saddam - presiding with remarkable firmness and control, given that he faced a man all Iraq had once feared - worries is the price he may pay for helping bring the law back to Iraq.

The judge spoke with composure about the reality that he himself may become a target: he told another journalist recently that three attempts had been made on his life. To reduce the danger, his name is not being released.

"We need to build our country, of course, and to do that there will be victims," he said in an interview after the court hearing. "If I am going to be among them, I accept it. The most important thing is that we build a country based on justice. There can be no future for us without law."

A few years shy of 40, the judge silenced men much older than he, despite the deference accorded to the elderly in traditional Arab culture. He stood up to men who ruled by crushing dissent with violence, who, according the charges put before them, were responsible for the torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in the 35 years that the Baath Party was in power. The tone was set in the first moments after Saddam had his chains removed and he took his seat, perhaps 3 meters, or about 10 feet, from the judge.

"Profession?" the judge asked, according to a translation by CNN. "Former president of the Republic of Iraq?"

Saddam replied: "No, present. Current. It's the will of the people."

The judge, his back to the camera, did not allow that to stand. "The head of the Baath Party that is dissolved, defunct," he said. "Former commander and chief of the army. Residence is Iraq. Your mother's name?"

Saddam answered, then asked the judge "to introduce yourself to me."

The judge answered: "Mr. Saddam, I am the investigative judge of the central court of Iraq." He did not tell Saddam that he had been on the bench during his rule, or that he had studied at the Baghdad College of Law and was an investigator in the capital before becoming a judge.

"So you are an Iraqi that - you are representing the occupying forces?" Saddam taunted the judge.

"No," the judge said, "I'm an Iraqi representing Iraq."

The judge also rebuked Saddam firmly when he referred to Kuwaitis as "animals," saying: "Don't use foul language and attack. This is a legal session."

Saddam responded: "Then forgive me."

Later in the day, it became clear that the judge had decided to let Saddam speak longer than the other defendants, whom he cut off far more quickly. He gave Saddam some leeway as they jousted over the validity of the laws governing the proceedings - and the judge reminded Saddam that the sections of law that require the rights of defendants to be read to them had been signed by Saddam himself. Saddam insisted that he was "a man of law," but protested that he was above it. "Is it allowed to call a president elected by the people and charge him according to a law that was enacted under this will and the will of the people?" Saddam asked. "There is some contradiction."

The judge answered: "The president is a profession, is a position, is a deputy of the society. That's true. And originally, inherently, he's a citizen. And every citizen, according to the Constitution, if this person violates a law, has to come before the law. And that law you know more than I do."

In fact, the laws under which Saddam and the others will be tried are a mix of existing Iraqi criminal law, international humanitarian law and laws that predate the ascension of the Baath Party to power in 1968.

In the hearings on Thursday, the men were not charged under specific statutes. The specific charges will be worked out in the next several months, tribunal officials said. Court officials also said that the rules of evidence had not been completed.

In a surprise that became evident during the hearing, the new Iraqi interim government decided to overrule a U.S. ban imposed last year and restore the death penalty. The judge informed each of the defendants that he faced death under Section 406-1-A of Iraqi criminal law. Unlike several of the defendants, who were clearly rattled when the judge told them they faced the possibility of death, Saddam did not visibly react. Salem Chalabi, the head of the tribunal, said that the new government had decided in principle to reinstate the death penalty but that the formal order had not been signed. The decision reverses a suspension of the punishment imposed last year by L. Paul Bremer 3rd, the U.S. official who had run Iraq after the invasion last spring until the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis on Monday.

Under the death penalty statute, civilians face death by hanging. Military officials may face a firing squad. Chalabi would not speculate on how Saddam, who as head of the armed forces often appeared in military uniform, might be executed, saying it would be improper to comment because Saddam had not been tried. "What difference does it make at this point?" he asked.

Saddam's trial is not expected to begin until next year.

The New York Times