EU urges Belarus to abolish death penalty
The European Union condemns the recent execution of a death row convict in Belarus.
Information about the execution of Ryhor Yuzapchuk, 45, sentenced to death for killing his cellmate appeared the other day.
“He committed a heinous crime”, the press service of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton reports. However, the European Union “is against the death penalty as it cannot be justified under any circumstances.”
It is the second execution of a death sentence in Belarus this year, the document says. The EU urged the Belarusian authorities “to join the world moratorium on the capital punishment as the first step to its complete abolishment,” Interfax-West reports.
Belarus is the only European country that has not abolished the death penalty so far. The European Union urges Belarus to impose a moratorium on the death penalty after every execution.
Photo: Fotolia
