Ashton calls Belarus to abolish death penalty
~~By Elena Ralli
~~By Elena Ralli
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| Amnesty International rally near Belarus embassy in Moscow | AFP PHOTO / ANDREY SMIRNOV |
May 8, 2013: EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton today issued a statement condemning the death sentence imposed on a detainee of Mahilyow prison in Belarus after he murdered his cellmate.
According to the statement: “(The High Representative) is conscious of the serious nature of the crime for which this individual has been convicted. However, she does not believe that capital punishment can ever be justified. The European Union opposes capital punishment under all circumstances. The death penalty is considered to be a cruel and inhuman punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity”.
Finally, High Representative Ashton called on Belarus to join a global moratorium on the death penalty with a view to move towards its abolition.
On April 24, the Mahilyow Regional Court imposed the death penalty on an inmate of a Mahilyow prison after he murdered a cellmate. The 43-year-old man, a native of Ukraine’s Zhytomyr province who was earlier convicted of killing three people, reportedly played a game of dominoes with his cellmate and the winner would get to live and the other would die. Since he won, he strangled his cellmate with a scarf back in July 2012 with the help of a young accomplice.
According to the statement: “(The High Representative) is conscious of the serious nature of the crime for which this individual has been convicted. However, she does not believe that capital punishment can ever be justified. The European Union opposes capital punishment under all circumstances. The death penalty is considered to be a cruel and inhuman punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity”.
Finally, High Representative Ashton called on Belarus to join a global moratorium on the death penalty with a view to move towards its abolition.
On April 24, the Mahilyow Regional Court imposed the death penalty on an inmate of a Mahilyow prison after he murdered a cellmate. The 43-year-old man, a native of Ukraine’s Zhytomyr province who was earlier convicted of killing three people, reportedly played a game of dominoes with his cellmate and the winner would get to live and the other would die. Since he won, he strangled his cellmate with a scarf back in July 2012 with the help of a young accomplice.
Courtesy: New Europe
