Smash hit

The trial has been plagued from the outset by controversy. Rizgar Amin, the original chief judge, stepped down after allowing Saddam’s courtroom antics to slow the trial. His immediate successor, Saed al-Hammash, was blocked from taking over amid accusations that he had been a senior member of Saddam’s Baath party.

Human Rights Watch, which has long argued for an international court to ensure a free and fair hearing, said that political meddling had undermined the court’s credibility.

“The demand for Rizgar Amin’s dismissal, which contributed to his resignation, was nothing less than an attack on judicial independence,” said Richard Dicker, director of the group’s International Justice Programme. “The removal of Judge al-Hammash from the trial created the appearance of a court that is continually subjected to political interference.”

Iraqis were even more scathing. “It’s a mockery. It’s illegitimate, but we didn’t expect a fair trial,” Abu Mustafa, a health worker, said. “We don’t really care about the trial though, because the security situation and the massacres now are much worse than under Saddam. They make this massacre (in Dujail) look like child’s play.”

The violence continued yesterday, with car bombs outside four churches in Baghdad and Kirkuk killing four people, a day after a blast at a sweet shop near Baghdad killed ten.

TRIAL SETBACKS

October 19, 2005 Judge adjourns trial three hours into first day after witnesses fail to arrive

October 21 Saadoun al-Janabi, a defence lawyer, is abducted and murdered

November 9 Another defence lawyer, Abdel Muhammed Abbas, is killed

December 7 Saddam tells judge to “go to Hell” and refuses to appear in court

December 21 Saddam claims he was beaten by US soldiers in custody

January 15, 2006 Pressure forces Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin to resign

January 19 Amin’s proposed replacement, Said al-Hamashi, denounced as former member of Baath party

January 29 Raouf Abdul Rahman, the new Chief Judge, below, has Saddam’s half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, ejected

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