Aziz and six co-defendants, including Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," faced the Iraqi High Tribunal on war crimes charges for the execution in 1992 of 42 businessmen who protested rising food prices in the wake of U.N. sanctions on the former regime. The Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein said the men were inflating food prices to exploit the economic impact of the sanctions.

Lawyers for Majid told the court their client endured harsh confinement while awaiting trial, Voices of Iraq reported.

"He has been severed from his family since his arrest in 2003," they said, adding, "He was allowed contact (with his family) once this year for only 10 minutes."

Sabawi Ibrahim, Saddam's half-brother and former commander of the Iraqi secret service, the Mukhabarat, denied involvement in the executions, saying his agency played no role in targeting the men.

Aziz and Majid face additional charges for, among other things, the Feb. 18, 1999, assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, the father-in-law of the anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr.

The case involving the merchants is the fourth case before the Iraqi High Tribunal and the first for Aziz.