Camera phone video available of Saddam Hussein's execution

A camera phone video was shot of the hanging of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is available on some Web sites, according to news reports, including one from Associated Press (AP).

Iraqi television broadcast an official video -- not from a camera phone -- showing the noose slipped around Saddam's neck, and then the video ended.  This link on LiveLeak.com shows what seems like the official, non-camera phone, video (see left).

This is the link on LiveLink.com for what seems to be is the camera phone video.  I watched it and the video is shaky and blurry, but it shows Saddam dropping through the trapdoor and also shows him hanging afterwards (see left). 

This is designated by LiveLink.com for mature viewing, as it certainly should be.  Actually, this camera phone video is a lot less gruesome than the special effects killings and maimings in the movies.  But this, of course, is reality.

AP says

AP reports, "But camera phone video, posted in full or in part on several Arabic language Web sites, picked up where the TV coverage left off.  In it, Saddam was taunted in the final seconds leading up to his execution, and appeared to have smiled at his tormentors.

"While the sentence was carried out, he calmly recited verses from the Quran in a clear voice.  Finally, Saddam's body can be seen swinging in the dim light — his neck apparently snapped."

I haven't read who took the camera phone video.

Execution in the age of the camera phone

The article notes near the lead, "Saddam may have been the first chief of state executed in the age of the Internet and the camera phone.  Probably because of that, his death was graphically documented on video, and available worldwide, within hours."

I wonder if the mainstream media will broadcast the camera phone video.

Second Saddam Hussein video

Update (1-8-07): A second video, apparently also from a camera phone, has appeared on the Internet.  It shows Saddam Hussein after he was hanged and I have written about it.

Comments

[steve]

Hello,

Please correct your postings in regard to your claim that the cell phone video of Hussein's execution shows him "dropping through the trapdoor" and "hanging afterwards." The cell phone video does NOT show him falling through the trapdoor, just falling down. This is also conveniently after the camera operator veered the phone to the left of the execution scene several seconds just before the supposed drop. Also, we never see Saddam "hanging." We do see a face (presumably Hussein's - though I won't even go into the fact that he had dozens of look-alikes, no DNA samples were taken, and everything is shot in an ultra-dark room) with a rope around its neck, but that's it. The body is not hanging from anything, the feet aren't dangling above the floor, just a SUPER close-up of a man's face and nothing else. To claim this footage is in no way edited is naive and juvenile. It's similar to claiming Hitchcock's ROPE was filmed in a single shot.

I hope there are more discerning viewers out there that are not willing to take this at face value.

Ciao,

Steve