Untitled Document
 |
Saddam objected to being insulted
by not being greeted
|
Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein has objected to insufficient access to his
lawyer, in a new tape aired by a Dubai-based Arabic television station.
The footage, broadcast by Al-Arabiya on Thursday, showed the former Iraqi leader
objecting to Judge Munir Haddad about only getting to see his lawyer when he
was being questioned by investigative judges.
"Does the lawyer only see his client when there is an investigation session.
Is this the law?" Saddam asked.
Though video showing the former Iraqi leader has been released in the past,
this was the first time he was seen since the Iraqi Special Tribunal filed its
first criminal case against him on Sunday.
Saddam Hussein and three other top officials are accused of involvement in
the July 1982 killing of an estimated 150 Shia in the town of Dujail, in retaliation
for a failed assassination attempt on him.
Accusations
The former president is expected to be charged with at least 13 crimes for
which he could face the death penalty.
In addition to the Dujail killings, the cases include the 1987-88 campaign to
drive Iraqi Kurds from large areas of the north and the supression of the Shia
revolt in the south after the 1991 Gulf war.
It was unclear when the film was taken, but Saddam is shown being questioned
about the case of Iraqi Shia Kurds, whose property he allegedly confiscated
during the early 1980s.
He allegedly deported many of them to Iran during that time.
In the video, Saddam is seen sitting on a chair, and at one point, wearing
glasses and taking notes.
A man who appears to be his lawyer is beside him.
Objections
Wearing a dark blue suit and a white shirt, Saddam also objected to not getting
a response from judges when he greeted them.
"When someone like me says 'peace be upon you,' and no one responds, then,
this is a big insult for someone like Saddam Hussein," said the former
Iraqi leader.
Saddam also said his arrest and detention by the US-backed Iraqi government
was a joke, since the Americans were the ones in power.
"I am under detention. This is what is being said. It is a game,"
he told the judge, in an apparent reference to being held at a US military base.
"No. God willing, no," Judge Haddad said.
