Saddam: 'I Am President Of Iraq'
Ousted Leader Formally Charged With Murder, Torture, Shiite Crackdown
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Video Raids In Iraq, Saddam In Court Saddam Hussein was back in court, arguing that he's still the president of Iraq. Also, U.S. soldiers continue an offensive in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods. Charlie D'Agata reports.
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An M1A1 tank in operation in Balad in Sept. 2004. (Getty Images)
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Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein testifies after chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman read to him his charges during his trial in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, Monday May 15, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Marco Di Lauro)
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Saddam, wearing a dark suit and white shirt, smiled slightly as he was led into court, CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports. He was alone in the defendants' pen as the charges were read, stood holding a copy of the Quran and insisted he was still Iraq's president, saying he did not recognize the court.
"Your honor, you gave a long report. That report can't be summed up by saying guilty or not," Saddam, dressed in a black suit, said after chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman read the charges list and asked for a plea.
"Your honor is now before Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq," Saddam said. "I am the president of Iraq by the will of the Iraqis, and I remain president of Iraq up to this moment. I respect the will of the Iraqi people and I will defend it with honor in the face of the collaborators and in the face of America.
"I do not recognize the collaborators that they brought to appoint a court and put forward a law with retroactive effect against the head of state, who is protected by the constitution and the law," he said. Saddam has used this defense throughout proceedings, Pizzey notes.
The judge told him he was a "former president" and instructed the court to enter a plea of not guilty, Pizzey reports.
Abdel-Rahman entered a plea of not guilty for Saddam.
With the reading of charges, the trial, which began Oct. 19, enters a new phase, with the defense presenting its case. After hearing from five defense witnesses in the five-hour session, the court adjourned until Tuesday.
Saddam and seven former members of his regime are on trial over a crackdown against residents of the town of Dujail, and they face a possible execution by hanging if found guilty.
Under the Iraqi trial system, the court first hears plaintiffs outline their complaint against the defendants and the prosecutions' evidence against them. Then the judges decide on specific charges, and the defense begins making its case.
In other recent developments:
Security forces arrested hundreds of Dujail residents, including entire families, in the wake of a 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam in the town. Witnesses, including women, have recounted being tortured while in prison, farmlands were razed in retaliation and 148 Shiites were sentenced to death in connection to the shooting attack on Saddam. All 148 were killed, either dying under interrogation or executed.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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