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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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Belarus executes Aliaksandr Asipovich

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Aliaksandr Asipovich
Death row prisoner Aliaksandr Asipovich was executed by shooting on December 17, according to the Mahilioŭ Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Asipovich was sentenced to death on January 9. 

The defendant allegedly murdered two women in Babrujsk in July 2018.

During an appeal hearing at the Supreme Court, the convict’s defense lawyers insisted that the crime was committed in self-defense.

After he lost his appeal, Aliaksandr Asipovich petitioned President Lukashenka asking to spare his life. 

However, the request was rejected.

In 2019, Belarus has handed down three death sentences, and three death row prisoners have been executed. 

Two death convicts are currently awaiting execution: Viktar Paulau and Viktar Serhil. 

In November, Paulau lost his appeal at the Supreme Court and is at risk of imminent execution.

Source: dp.spring96.org, Staff, December 20, 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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