Proceedings got off to a shaky start when two of Saddam’s representatives, former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark and ex-Qatari Justice Minister Najeeb al-Nauimi, led a walkout.
On quitting the courtroom, Saddam shouted the words “made in America” and “long live Iraq.”
The defendants and their lawyers later returned after a 90 minute recess when Kurdish chief judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin agreed to allow Mr Clark and Mr al-Nauimi to address the court.
Mr Clark demanded better protection for defence lawyers, two of whom have been killed since the trial commenced on October 17, and a third has fled the country.
Mr al-Nauimi gave a 15 minute-long impassioned speech denouncing the legitimacy of the tribunal overseeing the trail, saying it breached international law because it was formed during the US occupation.
The court then heard the testimony of two men who where present in the village of Dujail in July 1982 when Saddam Hussein and seven of his former henchmen are accused of killing 148 civilians.
The deaths were allegedly carried out in revenge after an attempt was made on Saddam’s life in the mostly Shi’ite Muslim village.
Ahmed Mohammed Hassem al-Dujaili, 38, a prominent member of the Shi’ite Dawa party, braved the open court, and the risk of reprisals, to come face to face with the accused.
Mr Dujaili said that more than 500 men, women and children, including he and his family, were rounded up and taken to the Hakimiya intelligence headquarters in Baghdad – a facility headed at the time by Saddam’s half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti.
“I swear by God, I walked by a room and… say a grinder with blood coming out of it and human hair underneath,” Mr Dujaili told the court.
Barzan interrupted the testimony, shouting “it’s a lie” and disparaging the witness saying “he should act in the cinema.”
Mr Dujaili went on to name some of the victims killed in the massacre, along with the alleged perpetrators, including Barzan who he said had been wearing red cowboy boots and blue jeans and was carrying a sniper rifle.
“A friend of mine… was tortured. He was actually killed in front of me and I saw that,” Mr Dujaili testified.
“People who were arrested were taken to prison and most of them were killed there.”
“I saw corpses and bodies of our neighbours. They were martyred. Some of them, we couldn’t even recognise their bodies,” Mr Dujaili said.
Chief lawyer for the defence, Khalil Dulaimi argued with the witness and accused him of lying, saying he had implicated a former government minister who had died in 1979.
Listening to the testimony, Saddam occasionally chuckled and interjected, at one point calling out defiantly “if you want my neck you can have it.”
He later described the witness testimony as ‘exaggerated’ and ‘laughable’ and said that he was himself a victim.
“The case has been exaggerated. Every head of state who is subject to an attack has the right to see the assailants brought to justice,” Saddam said, referring to the failed assassination plot.
Mr Dujaili also recounted seeing Saddam hit a teenage boy in the head with an ashtray.
In his testimony, Mr Dujaili said his 77-year-old father had been force to watch as another son was beaten and given electric shocks.
Mr Dujaili paused to wipe tears from his eyes after telling the court his brother lost his fingers under torture.
The second witness, Juwaad Abdul Aziz said his 16-year-old brother was captured and executed after Dujail was ‘bombarded’ by Saddam’s presidential guards.
But in Saddam's defence, Mr Dulaimi questioned the credibility of the testimony, asking how Mr Aziz could possibly identify anyone as he was aged only 10 at the time.
Up to nine other witnesses are scheduled to appear in the coming days, though most will take the precaution of standing behind a screen or away from the cameras, officials said.
Meanwhile, the Australian Prime Minister John Howard has demanded Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone investigate the granting of a temporary protection visa to a man who has admitted to being a member of Saddam’s security regime.
Oday al-Tikriti arrived illegally in Australia six years ago seeking asylum.
After his initial visa application was rejected by immigration authorities, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal upheld Mr al-Tikriti’s case in 2001, finding he had not been involved in any crimes against humanity.
Mr al-Tikriti, who has married a former South Australian Liberal MP and is seeking permanent residency in Australia, said because he was from the same Tikriti clan as Saddam Hussein he had been obliged under Iraqi law to serve the previous regime.