EU and Russia condemn Saddam hanging

The EU has today spoken out against the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

“The European Union has a very consistent stand … on opposing the death penalty and it should not have been applied in this case either – even though there is no doubt about Saddam Hussein’s guilt over serious violations against human rights,” Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said in Helsinki.