Disorder in the court
The week's news at a glance.
Baghdad
The new chief judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein tried a get-tough approach this week, but it backfired spectacularly. Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman opened court with the announcement that anyone who disrupted proceedings would be ejected. Just 30 minutes later, half the defendants and all of their lawyers were gone. Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, Saddam’s half-brother and the former head of intelligence, made the first scene, calling the court the “daughter of a whore” and refusing to sit down. Al-Tikriti was evicted, the defense team walked out in protest, and Saddam began shouting until the judge ordered him to be taken out of the courtroom, too. The defense lawyers said they won’t return until the judge apologizes “for his aggressive and unlawful behavior.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Can the ANC win South Africa's pivotal 2024 election?
Under the radar Governing party on course to lose majority for first time since end of apartheid as 'economic chaos trumps nostalgia'
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Binance: Can the biggest crypto exchange reform itself?
Feature The company's CEO pleads guilty to money laundering
By The Week US Published
-
'There could easily be a civil war during a Biden-Trump election'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published