BAGHDAD , Iraq ( CNN ) -- The judge who sentenced Saddam Hussein to death has condemned the manner in which the notorious dictator was executed . Saddam Hussein was hanged after being found guilty for his role in the killing of 148 people in Dujail . `` It was uncivilized and backward , '' said Chief Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman , who spoke to reporters on Tuesday as they awaited the start of the latest trial of ex-regime members . Hussein , a Sunni Muslim , was hanged for his role in the killings of 148 people in Dujail , a mostly Shiite town north of Baghdad , after a 1982 attempt to assassinate the then-Iraqi leader . The hanging -- which took place as hostilities between Sunnis and Shiites were erupting -- occurred December 30 , 2006 , when Sunnis began celebrating the religious holiday Eid al-Adha . A cell phone video showedHussein being taunted by Shiites and included bitter exchanges between Hussein and Shiite witnesses . There were shouts of praise for Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr , whose father was believed to have been murdered by Hussein 's regime . After Hussein was hanged , Shiite witnesses danced around his body , chanting celebratory slogans . `` In Iraqi law , there are no public executions , '' Abdul Rahman said . `` Eid is a time of love , tranquility and reconciliation , not a time for executions . '' None of the Iraqi government 's top officials attended the execution and Hussein was buried in Awja , near Tikrit , in the same cemetery as his sons Uday and Qusay . His execution was condemned at the time , then British Prime Minister Tony Blair , a leading advocate of Hussein 's overthrow , saying its manner was `` completely wrong . '' The Vatican said the killing of the guilty was not a route to justice or reconciliation , while Russia warned that it would worsen the situation in the country . E-mail to a friend . CNN 's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report .
Judge who sentenced Hussein to death condemns manner of execution . Chief Judge Syed Abdul Rahman calls hanging ' uncivilized and backward ' Rahman calls public nature of execution during a religious ceremony .