Saddam trial on hold to Dec 21

2005-12-07 22:53

Baghdad - The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants was adjourned on Wednesday until December 21 after two witnesses testified in a truncated session which the ousted president refused to attend.

Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin adjourned the proceedings and said the court would convene again on December 21 following national elections late next week.

Saddam made good on a promise not to take part in what he called an "unjust" court.

The other defendants and Saddam's lawyers were present in the courtroom when Amin convened the session.

Amin said the court would inform Saddam about or brief him on the proceedings that took place during his absence.

The judge then told defence lawyers that "the court will meet with the defence lawyers after today's hearing to discuss the security of the lawyers," which has become a major issue after two members of the defence team were murdered.

After the session convened, a male witness testified behind a beige curtain to conceal his identity.

The witness said he was arrested and taken to Baath party headquarters, where he found people "screaming because of the beatings".

The witness said Saddam's half brother and co-defendant Barazan Ibrahim was present.

'I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!'

"When my turn came, the investigator asked me my name and he turned to Barazan and asked him 'what shall we do with him?' Barazan replied: 'Take him. He might be useful.' We were almost dead because of the beatings."

Under questioning by the judge, however, the witness said he was blindfolded at the time and thought it was Ibrahim speaking because other prisoners told him so.

The witness said he was taken to Baghdad "in a closed crowded van that had no windows".

"When we arrived at the building they asked us to stand along the wall," he said. "We were told to stand only on one foot and we kept on this position for two hours before we were taken to cells with red walls. I was thirsty but the water was very hot."

After a few days, the witness said, he was moved to "Hall 63" where "we were kept handcuffed for five days with little food and very hot water. They used to take some persons and bring them back naked. The signs of torture were clear on their bodies".

Ibrahim made his own complaints against the court on Wednesday, saying that he spent more than eight months in solitary confinement without air conditioning, electricity or running water.

He said guards would force him and other prisoners to exercise, or punish them when they refused by withholding cigarettes, tea or by reducing food rations.

Saddam's threat not to attend the Wednesday session came at the end of a daylong session in which five witnesses - two women and three men - related the events of a 1982 crackdown on Shi'ite Muslims.

At the end of the Tuesday proceedings, the judges agreed over defence objections to meet again the following day. Saddam shouted that "I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!"

- AP