After nine months of deliberation and 83 witnesses, Saddam Hussein was sentenced Sunday to death by hanging for the murder of 148 people in a Shiite Muslim town in 1982.
Iraqi High Tribunal Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman summarized a 200-page judgment in 40 minutes that declared Hussein guilty of crimes including murder, torture, imprisonment and forced deportation.
The question at hand is whether Hussein’s death sentence is justified. Or should he be sentenced to life in prison?Some people might say the death penalty is the worst sentencing a person can receive.
But if one was to analyze this situation carefully, they might come to the conclusion that the death penalty could be considered “getting off easy.”
Here you have a man that is responsible for the ordering of killing hundreds of people and has put many more behind bars during his 24-year reign as president of Iraq.
No one knows how long the life span of a person will be. At the age of 69, Hussein could live to be 80 years old and be subjected to the same torture, abuse and humiliation he inflicted on others. But it’s not necessarily a man’s place to determine when someone should die.
During the reading of his sentencing, Hussein shouted in the courtroom “Allahu Akbar,” which means “God is greatest.” If Hussein thinks God is greatest, the government should let Hussein call on God in prison and see whether God answers as opposed to cutting his life short.
Brent Hatchett for the editorial board.