World Day against the Death Penalty: EU urges Belarus to end capital punishment

The EU has urged Belarus to abolish the death penalty, on the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, 10 October. Belarus remains the only country in Europe that applies the death penalty.

“We urge Belarus to move towards death penalty abolition,” said EU Ambassador to Belarus Dirk Schuebel. “The increasing lack of justice and rule of law in the country is reason enough for the introduction of a moratorium – the space for arbitrariness and juridical errors is vast.”

He added: “The authorities have always provided scarce reporting on the executions, however, recently the procedure has become even more secretive. Often, not even the convicts’ families are allowed to know whether and which of the death row inmates have been executed and which remain alive.”

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