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.
-
Exploring Georgia's southern highlandsThe Week Recommends Visit Javakheti, Georgia's 'lake district', and meet the last-remaining 'spirit wrestlers' in the region
-
Delivery drivers face continuing heat danger with Trump's OSHA pickThe Explainer David Keeling is the former head of UPS and also worked at Amazon
-
Is that the buzzing sound of climate change worsening sleep apnea?Under the radar Catching diseases, not those ever-essential Zzs
