Baghdad: The new chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial ejected the ousted Iraqi leader from the courtroom for refusing to sit down moments after hearings began on Wednesday.
Defence lawyers also stormed out in protest against the sacking of Mohammed al-Ureybi's predecessor. "Take him out of the courtroom," Ureybi ordered guards after a defiant Saddam refused to sit down.
Ureybi was named to take over the court after the government sacked Abdullah al-Amiri for saying Saddam was "not a dictator".
The court is trying Saddam, his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali", and five others for war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign against ethnic Kurds.
Saddam and Majeed also face the graver charge of genocide. All could be hanged if convicted. All defendants except Saddam remained as the trial continued with testimony from Kurdish witnesses.
The decision by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to change judges has prompted criticism by some international legal rights groups, who have said government pressure and sectarian violence in Iraq make a fair trial against Saddam impossible.
The chief judge in his earlier trial on charges of killing 148 Shi'ites after an attempt on his life in 1982 quit in protest at government interference. The court was set up by US occupying authorities to try the leader ousted in 2003.
Its first two cases have centered on crimes against Shi'ite Muslims and ethnic Kurds, oppressed under Saddam's Sunni Muslim-dominated administration. Richard Dicker, who has been observing the court for Human Rights Watch, said the government was "riding roughshod" over the tribunal's own procedures for dealing with charges of bias.
"(The cabinet) has not only interfered with the court's independence but greatly undermined the court's own appearance of neutrality and objectivity. The transfer effectively sends a chilling message to all judges: toe the line or risk removal."
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Tuesday the decision to sack Amiri was made by the cabinet in accordance with the Iraqi High Criminal Court Law, which allows the government to transfer judges from the court for "any reason".
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