- Title: VARIOUS: Saddam Hussein death sentence verdict elicits diverse reactions in Asia
- Date: 6th November 2006
- Summary: PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET WITH UMBRELLAS PEOPLE AT BUS STOP (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 28-YEAR-OLD EUM KI-HWAN SAYING: "It (the death sentence) is quite natural, isn't it? But it is not the final sentence. I am wondering what would happen next." (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 33-YEAR-OLD YANG HEE-KYONG SAYING: "It would have been okay if the trial had been conducted by Iraqi people alone
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2006 04:09
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA3MR2ZYSR60LHVJ66GUHIL4ZCB
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: The news of Saddam Hussein's death sentence made it onto every major newspaper across Asia on Monday (November 6) and elicited a diverse range of response and opinions.
An Iraqi court on Sunday (November 5) sentenced a shaken but defiant Saddam Hussein to hang for crimes against humanity, sparking joy for Shi'ites he oppressed and resentment among his fellow Sunnis across Iraq's violent sectarian divide.
In China's capital city Beijing, office worker Wang Yonggang expressed his view on this which represents a lot of the Chinese public's opinion.
"Personally, I don't think Saddam Hussein should get a death penalty. Back then when America attacked Iraq, the Americans named some ridiculous imputation. Shortly after, there were major attacks and arrest of Saddam Hussein. If America is not involving itself in this, instead, hand this over to the international court, Saddam Hussein might not be sentenced to death. This is something that happened under the pressure of America," Wang said.
China executes an estimated 5,000-12,000 people a year -- more people than the rest of the world combined. But it has been slowly reforming its death penalty system after a series of high-profile wrongful convictions that raised public ire.
"I think there is way too many death penalties in China. Some countries don't have death penalty. I think based on other country's experiences, we should try to alter and change our system," Chen Xiang said.
China's Supreme Court recently reclaimed its right to final review of death sentences from Jan. 1, ending the practice of allowing executions on the order of lower courts.
In South Korea, the public was divided on Monday (November 6) over the verdict on Saddam Hussein.
A young man supported the death sentence.
"It (the death sentence) is quite natural, isn't it? But it is not the final sentence. I am wondering what would happen next," said 28-year-old Eum Ki-hwan.
A woman said the trial should have been conducted without any outside influence.
"It would have been okay if the trial had been conducted by Iraqi people alone. It was a problem that the trial was conducted with the influence from outside. If his behaviour as a president should be evaluated, it should be done by his people," said 33-year-old Yang Hee-kyong.
South Korea has maintained the Zaytun Division in Iraq since August 2004, which is the third largest contingent of foreign troops, following the United States and Britain.
Some 2,400 soldiers of the division are supporting economic development for local residents in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.
Residents in Indonesia's capital Jakarta reacted to news of Saddam Hussein's death sentence indifferently and with strong scepticism.
"It's only human and logical that there are pros and cons in this matter. Those who suffered under Saddam Hussein would be happy with the sentence, and those who benefited under his reign would of course be upset," said one Jakarta resident, Asmardi.
In Shi'ite towns and in parts of Baghdad, people poured into the streets after Sunday's hearing, dancing and yelling for joy at the fate of the man who oppressed them for three decades.
In Saddam's Sunni home town of Tikrit, however, dozens of men and boys waved his portrait and chanted the old Baath party slogan "Saddam, Saddam! I give my life and blood for you, Saddam!"
While the United States and Iraqi officials hailed the year-long trial as proof of the independence of Iraq's judiciary and a new landmark in the development of international war crimes law, many in Indonesia questioned the political agenda behind the process.
Saddam Hussein's death sentence by an Iraqi court was also top headline news in Japan on Monday (November .
Few Tokyo commuters on Monday morning when interviewed by Reuters doubted that Saddam deserved any less.
"There will be all sort of opinions on this, but people of my generation, I believe, believe the verdict to be a correct one," said Kenji Morokawa, a 74-year-old retiree.
However some Japanese did question the process by which the courts were held.
"Saddam must pay for the crimes against the Kurds and other misdeeds, but I question the process where it's a trial that is being manipulated from behind the scenes by the Americans," said Mieko Okumura, a 60-year-old company employee.
The Japanese government on Monday welcomed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's death sentence, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe quoted by Japanese media as saying, ''I understand that a fair trial is being held under the rule of law in Iraq.''
Meanwhile in India, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt on Monday (November 6) hoped the death sentence given by the courts to Saddam Hussein should not act as a bait to arouse more controversies or tensions in the already violence stricken Iraqi society.
" I hope in anyway that this judgement shall not create new tensions in Iraq's society, shall not create new conflicts and we have to hope that it can be beginning of a more suffix situation and classification of the society in Iraq," he told the reporters at a news conference in southern Bangalore.
Verhofstadt is on a six-day visit to India. He arrived at the Indian capital on Thursday (November 2), accompanied by a high-level delegation, which includes Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders and Foreign Minister Karl De Gucht. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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