Interesting. Apparently in response to a motion by the prosecution, the chief judge in Saddam Hussein's current trial, Abdullah al-Amiri, who told Hussein last week that "you were not a dictator," has been removed.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial has been replaced, the Iraqi government spokesman's office confirmed Tuesday. There was no immediate word on who would take over from Judge Abdullah al-Amiri. The government spokesman's office confirmed the change without giving details.
The Arab television stations Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera said al-Amiri was replaced at the request of the Iraqi prime minister.Prosecutors had asked for al-Amiri to be replaced after he allowed Saddam to lash out at Kurdish witnesses. And last week, al-Amiri stirred further controversy when he told the former president that "you were not a dictator."
. . .
Saddam and six other defendants are on trial for alleged atrocities against Kurds during Operation Anfal, a crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas in the late 1980s. The prosecution alleges some 180,000 people died in the campaign, many of them civilians killed by poison gas.
Saddam and his cousin "Chemical" Ali al-Majid are charged with genocide, and the others are accused of various offenses. All could face death by hanging if convicted.
The AP report also reminds us that Saddam is still awaiting the verdict in his first trial:
Saddam faces a verdict next month in the first case against him — charges stemming from the killings of 148 Shiites in Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt against him in the town. He and seven co-defendants could face the death penalty if convicted in that case.
In addition to making the odd statement that Saddam was not a dictator, cheif judge al-Amiri allowed Hussein to engage in a bit of witness intimidation during the trial. Last Tuesday, Saddam threatened Kurdish witnesses that he would "crush your heads" after hearing them testify to the horrors committed by Saddam's regime.
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