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Team says saddam in fight in court room { July 30 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8762985/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8762985/
Defense team says Saddam attacked in court
Lawyers cite 'exchange of blows' with ex-Iraqi leader; U.S. denies incident
Updated: 8:17 a.m. ET July 30, 2005
AMMAN, Jordan - Lawyers for Saddam Hussein said on Saturday their client was attacked by an unidentified man during a court appearance in Baghdad this week, but U.S. forces guarding him denied any such incident took place.
A statement issued by Saddam’s legal team, which has an office in Amman, Jordan, said the former president was attacked and exchanged blows with another person during a hearing attended by his main lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, on Thursday.
“As the president (Saddam) stood to leave the courtroom one of those present attacked him and there was an exchange of blows between the man and the president,” the statement said, adding that the head of the tribunal did nothing to stop the assault.
It did not say if Saddam was hurt.
However, a spokeswoman for detainee operations in Iraq, the U.S. military unit charged with overseeing the custody of prisoners including Saddam, said no such incident took place.
“Nothing like that happened with Saddam whatsoever,” Lieutenant Kristy Miller said.
The U.S. military is in charge of Saddam’s physical custody, although he is in Iraqi legal custody. Miller said that as far as she knew Saddam almost never leaves U.S. military sight.
Officials at the Iraqi Special Tribunal, the court set up to try the former president and other senior members of his now- defunct Baath Party, were not reachable for comment.
Because of the alleged incident, the defense team said it would boycott the tribunal or any committee interrogating Saddam until he was given the right to proper legal representation by a team of international lawyers.
Authority of the court
The team, retained by Saddam’s family, said it held the U.S. military responsible for any harm to the former Iraqi leader and demanded safeguards for his protection.
The statement said the legal team refused “to recognize the authority of the court and all the bodies that were interrogating Saddam as it had no legal authority.”
An official in Baghdad who is familiar with the workings of the tribunal also denied that any scuffle took place between Saddam and another individual. He suggested it may be a defense team tactic.
“If I was a defense lawyer for Saddam, I’d try every trick I could,” he said.
The tribunal on Friday released pictures of Saddam being questioned over the suppression of Shiite Muslims after a 1991 uprising, when his regime is accused of killing up to 150,000 people.
So far, Saddam has been formally charged in only one case -- the killing of Shiite Muslims in the village of Dujail following a failed assassination attempt in 1982. A date for that trial is expected to be set soon.
Saddam’s defense team has complained that he has had no access to international lawyers and says Saddam is sometimes called to hearings at a moment’s notice, in violation of rules.
The tribunal denies Saddam has been denied any rights.
Ramsey Clark, a former U.S. attorney general and one of the lawyers signed up to represent Saddam, said in a statement that Saddam’s rights were being violated.
“Continued interrogations or trial under these circumstances is a serious violation of standards of security of person and fair trial that are shared by almost every country in the world,” he said.
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