Rome protests against death penalty

Saddam’ Hussein’s execution was denounced virtually across Italy’s political spectrum.

 

Silvio Berlusconi, the conservative opposition leader and former president who sent thousands of Italian troops to Iraq, calling the killing a political error.

 

Saddam’s execution for crimes against humanity also prompting a hunger strike from Marco Pannella, leader of Italy’s Radical Party, who thanked the mayor from his hospital bed for lighting up the Colosseum.

 

Italy is also spearheading a campaign for a United Nations moratorium on the death penalty.

 

“The execution of Saddam Hussein has stirred a debate,” said Michele Lembo, a demonstrator outside the Colosseum.

 

“We ask people to think about what happened and propose an alternative.”

 

Italy and all other European Union countries have outlawed capital punishment.