The last phase of the turbulent trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of Shiites resumed yesterday without the former Iraqi president in court.
The only defendant present to hear the start of closing defense arguments was a minor Baath party official from the village of Dujail where Saddam and his co-defendants are accused of killing 148 Shiites.
In a statement issued hours after the trial began hearing final on Monday, Saddam's lawyers said they would boycott the toppled leader's trial until a sweeping series of demands are met, following the killing of a third member of the defense team last month.
"We will suspend our attendance ... from July 10 ... until the following fair demands are met," the defense team said. They included more security and a probe into the lawyer's killin
The trial took place in the highly fortified Green Zone in Baghdad against a backdrop of mounting sectarian violence between majority Shiites and mem-bers of the Sunni Arab community that was dominant under Saddam.
Saddam's lawyers had said before the new hearing that they needed more time to plan their final statements, especially in the wake of the assassination of key defense team member Khamis al-Obeidi last month.
"I deeply deplore the assassination of lawyer Khamis al-Obeidi," chief judge Rauf Abdel Rahman said at the start of the hearing.
"The court strongly denounces any attempts on the lives of lawyers as these crimes do not serve justice," he said.
The hearing was also taking place in the absence of Saddam's lead counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi, who is in Amman.
Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi has said the last phase of the trial "may take two to three days but no more."
The prosecution has argued that the arrests, imprisonment, executions of inhabitants, as well as the destruction of property, were crimes against humanity.
The defense has insisted it was a legitimate action against those responsible for planning to murder the head of state.
If convicted, Saddam and others will face execution by hanging.
The trial, described by experts as falling short of international standards, has been marred since its October opening by the murder of three defense lawyers and the resignation of the first chief judge in January, as well as frequent outbursts by the defendants.
Obeidi was snatched last month by about 20 men from his Baghdad home and later shot dead and dumped at a traffic roundabout, a murder international human rights activists said dealt a severe blow to the trial.
"Killing him at a time when the defense team was to present its final remarks is a big blow to the defense and the trial itself," Nehal Bhuta of New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
But the chief prosecutor had disagreed, saying: "It will not affect the proceedings at all; the lawyers have had enough time to prepare."
In his closing arguments on June 19, Mussawi demanded the death penalty for Saddam and two other defendants.
"We demand the maximum punishment for Saddam, [his half-brother and former head of intelligence] Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and [former vice president] Taha Yassin Ramadan," Mussawi said.
"The charges against the defendants are of murder, extreme deprivation of people's rights, torture and forcibly hiding people. These are crimes against humanity because it has happened under a wide assault and was organized by authorities against a group of citizens," he said.
Mussawi also said Saddam admitted being responsible for the Dujail inquiry that led to the deaths of the villagers.
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