An ugly hanging in Iraq

January 15, 2007 at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

An ugly hanging in Iraq

In this post about death penalty aesthetics, I noted that, compared to what is shown at the local multiplex and in action video games and even in most episodes of CSI, I found even the uncut Saddam execution video to be quite tame. But as detailed in this news report, the same likely could not be said about the video of the latest executions in Iraq:

Iraq hanged two of Saddam Hussein's aides early Monday, and one of the condemned was accidentally decapitated. The official video of the hangings shows Hussein's half-brother lying headless below the gallows, his severed head several yards away, the Associated Press reported.

The executioner's noose severed the head of Barzan Hassan, the former chief of Hussein's secret police, according to a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office. "It was not like a very pretty scene," said Basam Ridha, who was one of the witnesses. Ridha said the executions were carried out with dignity and respect, and called the accidental decapitation "an act of God."