PressEthic

Saddam Hussein’s trial was broadcast yesterday on Iraqi television. But it was not live TV. Officials imposed at least a 20-minute delay. Why?

I can see only one explanation: give the authorities sufficient time to control the video and possibly to remove compromising parts. In a word, this is censorship.

As journalists in Iraq reported, many Iraqi watched the trial on TV, as well as many people in the Arab world. Is that a good way to show them how democracy works? Censorship was very common under Saddam. Isn’t it different today?

For sure, we can expect some outrageous lines from Saddam. Some of his interventions may also be very compromising for Western countries, which supported him in the 1980s. But this is just democracy and justice.

According to an AP report describing the video, “technical quality was poor, with the sound cutting out frequently and the picture going blank several times.” Let us hope it was only technical issues.