By Country / Iraq
Hussein, Lawyers Walk Out Of Courtroom
January 29, 2006
Hussein (front right) and his fellow defendants in court on 29 January (epa)
Hussein left the court accusing it of being an American court after one of his seven co-defendants was expelled from the session for defying the presiding judge. After a defense lawyer was also removed, the entire defense team walked out.
Court-appointed lawyers then took over Hussein's defense.
Earlier, co-defendant Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti and a defense lawyer were forcibly removed from the courtroom.
A new judge, Raouf Abdul Rahman, is now presiding over the trial. His predecessor, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, resigned amid accusations from government officials that he was too lenient toward the defendants.
Hussein and seven co-defendants face charges over the 1982 killing of 148 people in the village of Al-Dujayl.
(AFP, Reuters, AP)