The trial came three years after he was removed from office by the US invasion of Iraq.
But despite the dictator having been out of office for years, the violence of his regime created a profound and lingering fear for those involved in the case.
Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein fronting court. (AP)
Three of five presiding judges were never identified publicly for their own safety.
The lead prosecutor in the case was also not identified, despite much of the trial being televised.
And the trial was delayed by several witnesses being too frightened to attend for fear for their own safety.
Iraq at the time remained in chaos, beset by sectarian violence including by those still loyal to Hussein.
But the defence team also had targets on their back.
Throughout the course of the proceedings, three of the lawyers defending Hussein and his co-accused were assassinated.
The former dictator was a belligerent defendant, repeatedly shouting at the judges and denying that he had been ousted as president.
On several occasions he refused to enter the courtroom. He also went on hunger strike for 19 days.
Though he was accused of many crimes against humanity during his reign in Iraq, he was on trial for the Dujail Massacre of 1982.
Between 142 and 148 people were executed for their alleged involvement in an assassination attempt on Hussein.
Those arrested were tortured into confessions and executed.
Four people who had been found not guilty were mistakenly killed.
Two of those condemned to die were accidentally released.
Saddam Hussein ordered the deaths of nearly 150 people over an assassination attempt in 1982. (Nine Archives)
After receiving his own death sentence, Hussein appealed the decision but it was denied a few weeks later.
Four days later, he was executed by hanging.
His execution date had been kept a secret, with most people not knowing about the plan until after he had died.
But the execution itself was a raucous and terse affair, with guards mocking Hussein as they put the noose around his neck.
Mobile phone video of the moments before his death was later leaked onto the internet.
Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq with an iron fist for 24 years. (AAP)