The defense in the trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has claimed that the trial he is facing for crimes against humanity is unfair and they have demanded 'equal time' to present their case.
One of Saddam's attorneys said that the defense could not call one witness because he had been killed while others are wanted by American or Iraqi government authorities and therefore cannot come to court to testify.
'The defense is not free to present its witnesses the way the prosecution is,' one of the defense lawyers told chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman. The lawyer's identity is being withheld for security reasons and the defense refused to release the names of the witnesses in question for fear of their safety.
Saddam had another one of his outbursts in court after Judge Abdel-Rahman refused to allow a DVD presented by the defense into evidence.
'I would insist not to come here if I did not respect the judicial system,' Saddam told the judge. 'My respect for the judicial system is the reason behind accepting my colleagues to defend me and to present my case before Iraqis and public opinion. The prosecution presented all his witnesses one by one. We have nothing here, just talk, but when even talk is forbidden then we enter an imbalance,' he said. 'To attain balance we have to be given the same opportunity to the defense witnesses.'
One defense witness presented today testified behind a curtain for his own safety. He claimed that many of the 148 Shi'ites from Dujail who were on the list to be executed by Saddam's government were still alive.
'Around 23 of those who were mentioned among the 148 are still alive, and I know most of them,' the witness, who claimed to live in Dujail. 'I've eaten with them, I've met them. ... I can take the chief prosecutor to Dujail and have lunch with them.'
The witness listed six names but refused to identify any others again for fear of reprisal from the tribes of those he mentioned.
One of the defense lawyers then interjected, 'If the witness' testimony is correct ... the case should be reviewed' but the chief prosecutor was skeptical and claimed that the witness did not live in Dujail and that the names he gave were not of people on the list to be executed.
The judge promised an investigation and ordered that the witness remain in protective custody to assist the investigation.
