BUFFALO - The founder of an Islam-oriented television station who is accused of beheading his wife was abused by her for years, according to his lawyer, who said yesterday that he will pursue a defense combining that justification as well as psychiatric claims.

Defense attorneys’ assertions that Muzzammil Hassan was victimized by his wife drew a blunt response from District Attorney Frank Sedita after a hearing.

“He chopped her head off,’’ Sedita said. “He chopped her head off. That’s all I have to say about Mr. Hassan’s apparent defense that he was a battered spouse.’’

Hassan, 45, is charged with one count of second-degree murder in the Feb. 12 death of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan at the offices of Bridges TV, the station the Pakistan-born couple established in 2004 to counter negative stereotypes of Muslims.

During yesterday’s hearing, Hassan fired the attorney who has been representing him for nearly a year and replaced him with a lawyer who promised “a revolutionary defense.’’

“The spouse was the dominant figure in this relationship,’’ attorney Frank Bogulski said outside the courtroom. “He was the victim. She was verbally abusive. She had humiliated him.’’

Nancy Sanders, a former news director at Bridges TV, was also skeptical of the abuse claim, noting the stocky Hassan stood over 6 feet tall and “filled a doorway,’’ while Aasiya was slender and several inches shorter.

The trial is expected to start in March.

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