BAGHDAD, Iraq – Saddam Hussein refused to attend the fifth day of his trial in Baghdad yesterday, throwing the court into further confusion.

Judges, reluctant to exclude the former dictator from the proceedings, wrangled with defense lawyers for four hours, trying to break the deadlock. In the end, the court reconvened with Saddam’s chair empty, in the front row of three rows of defendants.

Two more anonymous witnesses, testifying from behind a curtain and with their voices electronically distorted, then recounted harrowing accounts of torture and death.

After two and a half hours of testimony from the two men, identified only as Witness F and Witness G, Judge Rizgar Amin announced an adjournment until December 21.

The delay had been expected, as Iraq votes in general elections next Thursday, further raising tensions.

Witness F accused Saddam’s half-brother and former intelligence chief, Barzan al-Tikriti, who is also on trial, of overseeing the abuse meted out to hundreds of people in the Shia town of Dujail in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam there. The alleged execution of 148 people form the town is at the heart of the trial.

“We were kept handcuffed for five days with little food and very hot water to drink,” said the man. “They would take people away and bring them back naked and with clear marks of torture.”

Complaints from Saddam on Monday led to his refusal to attend court. The stream of testimony from nine witnesses over three days has produced chilling tales of abuse and degradation, but little by way of concrete evidence directly incriminating any of the eight defendants – accused of crimes against humanity – in specific atrocities.