FACTBOX-What was said during Saddam's trial?
Source: Reuters
Nov 5 (Reuters) - A verdict is expected on Sunday in the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants on charges of crimes against humanity. WHAT HAPPENED IN DUJAIL? The charges Saddam faces stem from events in Dujail, a Shi'ite farming village about 60 km (35 miles) north of Baghdad, after local young men tried but failed to assassinate the Iraqi ruler in 1982 as his motorcade passed through town. Prosecutors say Saddam sought brutal revenge, ordering his commanders to hunt down, torture and kill more than 140 villagers. Women and children were alleged to have been forcibly removed from Dujail, imprisoned and later sent to a desert internment camp where many ultimately "disappeared". The village's farmlands, rich date palm and fruit groves on the banks of the Tigris, were salted and laid waste. WHAT DID SADDAM SAY IN COURT? In March, Saddam Hussein acknowledged he ordered trials that led to the execution of dozens of Shi'ites in the 1980s but said he acted within the law as Iraq's president. "I referred them to the Revolutionary Court according to the law. Awad was implementing the law, he had a right to convict and acquit," Saddam said, referring to his co-accused Awad al- Bander, the former chief of the Revolutionary Court. "I razed them ... we specified the farmland of those who were convicted and I signed," said Saddam. "It's the right of the state to confiscate or to compensate. So where is the crime?" WHAT DID WITNESSES SAY? Many of the witnesses in the televised trial testified from behind a curtain and using a computerised voice modifier out of fear for their lives. In a December hearing, Ahmed Hassan, 38, recounted how he and his family were seized and tortured. He said they were taken to an intelligence building in Baghdad run by Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother and former intelligence chief. "I swear by God, I walked by a room and ... saw a grinder with blood coming out of it and human hair underneath," he said. In another hearing, a woman identified only as Witness A broke down in tears as she described how Iraqi prison guards forced her to strip naked, gave her electric shocks and beat her with cables. Witness B, a woman in her 70s, said she, her husband, five daughters and two sons were imprisoned. Another witness testifying anonymously said Barzan was present when he was tortured in Baghdad. "During the interrogation they'd torture me, and Barzan was there eating grapes. I was screaming. I'm an old man. He was there."
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