Five witnesses testify in Saddam trial

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his seven top aides showed up in court again on Tuesday in Baghdad's Green Zone, while five witnesses testified with their identities remaining a secret.

At the beginning of the morning session, the defendants entered the courtroom and took their seats in the dock to hear testimonies of the witnesses over the massacre of 148 Shiite villagers in Dujail, a Shiite town north of Baghdad, in 1982 after Saddam survived an assassination attempt there.

The court heard remarks of the first female witness, known as " Witness A," who testified from behind a screen. The witness, who was detained by security forces after the attempt on Saddam's life, recounted grisly torture and violations of humanity in court.

During her testimony, the woman said she had been forced to take off her clothes and hit with a pistol by a security agent after being detained in Dujail.

She said she was held in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison for four years. Many of her relatives were also detained, the witness added.

The second witness, a woman in her 70s, said she, her husband, five daughters and two sons were imprisoned following the failed assassination.

The court then began to hear testimony of another three witnesses with all their faces hidden behind curtain and voice modulated.

At the end of the lengthy hearings, presiding judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin announced, "This trial will continue tomorrow, when we will hear two more witnesses."

Saddam complained that he had no clean clothes and had been deprived of shower and exercise facilities, while shouting "I will not return. I will not come to an unjust court. Go to hell."

Saddam and his seven co-defendants are accused of crimes against humanity over the Dujail massacre. If convicted, they might be executed.

All of the accused plead not guilty.

The court proceeding resumed after three adjournments since the trial started on Oct. 19.

On Monday, two male witnesses testified before the court to give accounts of the 1982 killings.

Source: Xinhua