Knight Ridder Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The mass murder trial of Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants proceeded with its usual chaos Wednesday, with the proceedings were peppered with outbursts from Saddam and his half-brother.

Defense attorneys questioned the validity of the memories of the witnesses and accused the witness of being coached, as Barazan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Saddam Hussein lectured the judge and criticized the court.

In past proceedings, the hearings unfolded like a circus with outbursts by defendants, especially Barazan, who spat at an official and complained about cheap cigarettes in jail. Wednesday, the defendants were somewhat more restrained even as the judge allowed them to ramble on about their innocence.

Outbursts from the defendants were few until after the testimony of the second witness. Saddam Hussein, who was absent from the previous day of the trial after telling the judge to “go to hell,” sat in a clean white shirt and suit and calmly watched the proceedings.

The first witness gave details of the torture suffered by residents of Dujail, a small Shiite town, in 1982. The defendants are accused of killing about 150 people from the town after an assassination attempt on Saddam’s life.

Plastic tubing was melted and dripped onto the bodies of detainees at the intelligence office in Baghdad, the first witness said. His brother was beaten with a stick until bones were showing and men were shocked with electric cables, he said.

As he calmly stated that his teenage brothers were executed he paused, looked down and asked for water.

“I can hardly express the pain,” said Ali Hassan al-Haidari, “Men would leave on their feet and come back carried in blankets.”

Al-Haidari, who was 14 at the time, placed Barazan inside a two-floor intelligence detention center where he said hundreds of people were stuffed into tiny cells. At one point al-Haidari saw a dead body being carried from a room and then saw Barazan walking from the same room. Al-Haidairi was already sick with a fever, but Barazan kicked him. Al-Haidari said he later recognized, Saddam’s half brother, from a picture in a book.

“He kicked me so hard I forgot my fever,” al-Haidari said. “He said to the guards, “Do not treat him. This family does not deserve to live.”‘

This was the most specific evidence against Saddam’s half-brother since the trial began.

Barazan insulted the witness and referred to victims of Dujail as “the corpses of seven dirty dogs.” During his outburst the guards approached him and one muttered, “I am going to beat you,” while Barazan continued to wag his finger in their faces.

Barazan appeared to incriminate himself by saying that nine beaten corpses were “criminals,” suggesting the beatings were justified.

Saddam Hussein charged that he and his seven co-defendants were beaten by American forces. “I was beaten all over my body and the marks are still there; we were all beaten by the Americans and tortured.”

At one point Saddam Hussein asked to break for prayers citing, “a note from God.” But the judge refused and asked the witness to continue.

After the testimony of the second witness whose voice was disguised as he hid behind a curtain, Barazan and Saddam lectured the court and Barazan again appeared to incriminate himself.

“Convince me that I’m guilty,” Barazan said. “There were rules in the country stating that anyone who joins al-Dawa Party will face the penalty of death because this party was supporting another country we were fighting against.”

Barazan was referring to Iran, and the outburst appeared to be an attempt to justify his actions rather then deny the charges. When the prosecutor asked the judge to stop allowing the defendant to waste time, saying the witness was tired, Barazan cried out, “Let him die.”

He addressed these comments to Judge Rizgar Amin Mohammed, who did not reprimand him, even as the prosecutor objected and said the diatribe was political.

Saddam again reprimanded and criticized the court after reciting a verse from the Quran, and launched into another political tirade.

“God defends Saddam Hussein,” he told the court. “I’m defending you. I’m defending the Iraqi people including those at the judge’s bench. … Iraq was barefoot except for its history. … It became a country feared for its knowledge, it’s patriotism, and its men. I’m defending this and not myself.”

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, part of the defense team, was not in court.

(c) 2005, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.