KABUL, Afghanistan – Three Americans were jailed for a total of 28 years in Kabul yesterday for running a private prison and torturing detainees.

The sentencing brought to an end a case that a defense lawyer called a circus. Jonathan Idema, described by American officials as a bounty hunter, and his colleague Brent Bennett were sentenced to 10 years. A documentary filmmaker, Edward Caraballo, was given eight years.

They were arrested on July 5 after Afghan authorities raided a home in Kabul and found eight Afghan prisoners. Several claimed to have been tortured by being denied food or having hot water poured over them to extract information about Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists.

All three men denied the charges. Idema claimed to be working with the knowledge of the Pentagon while Caraballo said he was making a film about Idema’s pursuits. Their four Afghan accomplices were jailed for between one and five years.

Idema, a former special forces soldier who helped the American-backed Northern Alliance defeat the Taliban in 2001, reacted furiously to the judge’s verdict. “I [expletive] apologize for helping to save them,” he told a packed courtroom. “We should have let the Taliban murder every goddamn one of them.”

The remarks were typical of a farcical trial with a court translator advising the judge, the American defense lawyers explaining the concept of presumption of innocence, and the prosecution presenting press cuttings as evidence.

When Idema took an oath on the Koran to tell the truth, the packed court erupted with cries of “God is Great” in the mistaken belief that he had converted to Islam.

The defense played videotapes shot by Caraballo, including one showing Idema meeting a man identified as an American army captain coordinating counter-terrorism activities in Kabul who said Idema’s group was “rolling up AQ [Al Qaeda] like nobody’s business.”

The three said their visas were arranged by the Afghan ambassador to India, and showed film of them being greeted at Kabul airport by senior Afghan government officials. But the judge said this proved only that they had “private contacts” with Afghan officials, not that they were working for the American military.

Idema claimed the American authorities disowned him after the torture allegations. His lawyers claimed that 500 documents, 300 photographs, and 200 videos proving the group was working with the knowledge of the Pentagon and the coalition were seized illegally by the FBI. One of the lawyers, John Tiffany, said: “Whether the judge made a decision as a result of pressure exerted by the U.S. government or whether he doesn’t know how to conduct a trial in accordance with international standards of justice I don’t know.”

The American embassy, the international peacekeeping mission and the coalition deny that Idema worked for them.

Caraballo’s lawyer, Robert Fogelnest, said the Afghan legal system, destroyed by two decades of war, did not meet basic international standards for a fair trial. The hearing was plagued by inaccurate translations and misunderstandings of court proceedings.

At one point, Mr. Fogelnest told the Dari-speaking translator: “I’ve been told by several people you do not translate what I say and are advising the judge.”

“Sit down,” the translator ordered.

“Fine, it’s your circus,” Mr. Fogelnest told the judge.