Saddam Hussein's judge vies to the Presidency of the Republic

Shafaq News/ Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin, who presided over Saddam Hussein's trial, announced that he will be running for the Presidency of the Republic.

Amin said in a statement to Shafaq News Agency that he will be vying for the presidency as an independent candidate out of his belief in the democratic process.

The Kurdish judge urged the Kurdish parties to uphold him in his quest inside the parliament hall.

According to the constitution of Iraq, the President shall win at least two thirds of the Council of Representatives votes.

If non of the candidates secures the quota, the two candidates with the most votes compete for the chair in a second vote.

Who is Rizgar Amin?

Rizgar Mohammed Amin, born 1957, is the former chief judge of the Iraqi Special Tribunal's al-Dujail trial. He is the only judge whose name was revealed on the trial's opening on 19 October 2005, the names of the other four judges and all but two of his four colleagues faces not allowed to be shown during the televised portions of the trial.

Amin graduated from the Law School of Baghdad University in 1980. He is an ethnic Kurd, though he has no record of political activism, or connections to the Peshmerga.

 He was a regional judge during the presidency of Saddam Hussein.

Because he had refused to join the Ba'ath party, he was only admitted to the college of judges in 1990, after working in a subordinate position for ten years. Amin was appointed chief judge of the regional court by Jalal Talabani in the mid-1990s.

On 14 January 2006, he resigned as chief judge of the trials of Saddam Hussein, due to government interference and harsh public criticism. He was replaced by Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman.