The Volkskrant publishes four graphic photos of the last moments of Saddam Hussein on its front page. The amateur video of his death is prominently displayed on the paper’s website, complete with the warning that it contains shocking images.

The Volkskrant’s, however, asks the question whether the execution will serve any long-term gain. Those who oppose the death penalty can only regret he was killed, the paper says. At the same time, the ‘macabre show with the old-fashioned gallows, masked hangman and bystanders shouting insults can hardly be seen as a triumph for justice,’ the paper says.
‘Human rights have lost,’ is the headline on NRC.next’s main comment on the hanging. ‘He was a shameless dictator, but did he deserve the ultimate penalty?’ the paper asks, concluding that he did not. ‘You cannot build a future on revenge,’ it says.