The first woman to testify in the trial of Saddam Hussein broke down in tears today as, in fear of her life, she testified behind a curtain about how she was forced to strip by Iraqi prison guards.
With her voice distorted by computer to protect her identity, "Witness A" spoke only briefly before technical problems with the sound equipment prompted a short recess after Saddam's defence team said they could not hear the evidence.
Saddam Hussein to the judges at his trial yesterday
The woman sobbed as she told the court she had been forced to strip in custody during the Saddam era and her brother and other family members had been seized by his forces. It was not clear from her testimony when or where the alleged incidents took place.
The trial of is centred on the killings of over 140 men from the Shi'ite village of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam in 1982.
Witness A was hidden from Saddam and his seven co-defendants behind a high curtain. Saddam's defence team complained her voice was so distorted they could not understand it.
The judge first cut off sound to the public galleries then ordered a break to fix the technical problems. The trial later resumed.
The proceedings are being shown live on television. Witnesses yesterday presented testimony of torture and summary execution, and told of a meat grinder for human flesh and other horrors allegedly inflicted on people from Dujail.
Saddam responded by saying he was not afraid to die. "If you want my neck you can have it," he told the judges. "I am not afraid of execution."
International rights groups have criticised the court for failing to protect the defence lawyers, two of whom have been killed since the trial of the eight accused of crimes against humanity began on October 19th.
The UN human rights chief in Iraq said he saw little prospect of the trial meeting international standards.