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Activists Call on President Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty Before Leaving Office

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A conversation with Death Penalty Action Co-founder and Executive Director Abe Bonowitz. Now that Joe Biden is a lame duck president, activists are holding him accountable to make good on his promise to end the federal death penalty during his remaining six months as president. Biden’s election campaign in 2020 had pledged to end the federal death penalty and incentivize the remaining 27 states that still allow executions to do the same. While he made history as the first president in the United States to openly oppose the death penalty, there has been no movement to actually end federal executions during his nearly four years in office.

Belarus Condemns Second Man To Death This Year

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A man was sentenced to death in Belarus for double murder on July 31, despite repeated calls by the European Union for the abolition of capital punishment in the only European country that still carries out executions.

The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights group says a court in the eastern city of Vitsebsk found the defendant, Viktar Paulau, guilty of murdering 2 elderly women in late December and sentenced him to death.

The court established that Paulau beat to death the 2 retired sisters in a village near Vitsebsk and stole cash and alcoholic beverages from their house.

Paulau, 50, told the court he regretted his deed and begged for his life to be spared.

He is the 2nd Belarusian sentenced to death this year after 36-year-old Alyaksandr Asipovich received the death penalty in January for killing 2 girls in 2018.

For years, the EU has urged Belarus to join other countries in declaring a moratorium on capital punishment.

According to rights organizations, some 400 people have been sentenced to death in Belarus since it gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Human rights groups say Belarus carried out 1 execution in January, 1 in November, and 2 executions in May 2018.

EU warns Belarus to abolish death penalty


Despite the European Union’s repeated calls for the abolition of capital punishment in the only European country that still carries out executions, a man was sentenced to death in Belarus for double murder on 31 July.

The EU reiterated its opposition to the death penalty in a statement, in which it expressed its sincere sympathy to the families and friends of the victims.

“Tangible steps taken by Belarus to respect universal human rights, including on the death penalty, remain key for shaping the EU’s future policy towards Belarus.”, the statement reads.

Sources: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, PAPER, neweurope.eu, Staff, July 31, 2019


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Belarus
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