In Europe, it's East vs. West in debate over death penalty
PARIS - The European Union recoiled when an Iraqi court sentenced Saddam Hussein to death this month.Not even Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain wants to see the deposed dictator with a rope around his neck. Yet many people in Central and Eastern Europe applauded the death sentence. Some of them pine for the capital punishment that they had to give up to join the European club. The Czech Republic's right-wing prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, welcomed the Saddam sentence, calling it "an act of justice" and a warning to other dictators. President Lech Kaczynski of Poland called it "the only possible outcome." A former justice minister of Slovakia, Daniel Lipsic, criticized his country for pandering to the European Union in opposing the Iraqi decision.
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