Death Penalty News

EU leaders will hold a special online summit on Wednesday (19 August) backing Belarusian protesters and telling Russia not to interfere, top EU officials said on Monday. European Council president Charles Michel called for the extraordinary video summit as mass protests continued in Belarus against long-time president Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed a landslide victory in an election on 9 August, which the opposition says was rigged. Lukashenko's security forces brutally cracked down on initial protests, which prompted the biggest rally in the country's modern history over the weekend against the strongman. "The people of Belarus have the right to decide on their future and freely elect their leader," said Michel in a tweet announcing the summit of the 27 leaders. "Violence against protesters is unacceptable and cannot be allowed," he added. EU leaders are also expected to send a message to Russia not to meddle in Belarus, as Russian...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Tuesday lauded the Czech government's decision to provide "subsidiary protection" to eight Taiwanese fraud suspects detained in its capital Prague rather than extradite them to China as requested by Beijing. Subsidiary protection is an international protection given to a non-EU national or a stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee and would face the risk of suffering serious harm if returned to his or her country of origin, according to the website of European Union (EU). "We commend and appreciate the position of the Czech government, which showed moral courage and pragmatism in protecting the human rights of these Taiwanese and refusing China's request (for extradition)," MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee said at a press conference Tuesday. It is MOFA's obligation to protect the basic human and legal rights of Taiwanese when they get in trouble outside the country, and the government will do a...

A model weeped in court after being charged with trying to smuggle £1.1million (€ 1.2M; US$ 1.4 M) worth of heroin on a flight to Ireland in a suitcase. Tereza Hluskova, 22, from the Czech Republic, was stopped at Lahore airport in Pakistan as she attempted to board a flight to Dublin via Abu Dhabi. Almost nine kilograms of the Class A drug were found stashed in statues in the model's luggage in January. Miss Hluskova broke down in tears at a hearing after she was told her trial would be postponed yet again.  The model says she was in Pakistan for a modelling contract and told authorities she did not know how the heroin ended up in her suitcase. Two other men were also arrested and are facing drug trafficking charges after police went through the model's phone. Miss Hluskova could face up to ten years in prison if she is convicted. The death penalty in Pakistan applies to those caught with over 10 kilograms of drugs.  Authorities allege that Miss...

Bangladesh's recent impetus on cracking down on drug abuse and trade has led to some divisive results—while there is no doubt that this is an issue that needs to be addressed, the approach taken by the authorities has been questioned.  The country recently passed the Narcotics Control Bill 2018, which provides for the death penalty for possession of low quantities of certain drugs. This is in contradiction to the recommendations of The Global Commission on Drug Policy , which is a panel of world leaders and intellectuals, committed to studying how the war on drugs has led to “devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world”, and which advocates for a healthcare-based approach to drug policy, as opposed to criminalisation.  Khalid Tinasti, Executive Secretary of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, talks to The Daily Star's Moyukh Mahtab about the healthcare-based approach to drug policy and examples of countries which have had success. Tinas...

"Last Address" commemorative plaque The country's Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes on Tuesday launched a new project to commemorate victims of former Czechoslovakia's communist regime. Called "Last Address", the idea was inspired by similar initiatives in Russia. Within the project, plaques will be installed at victims' final addresses - recalling their lives and what they stood for, for which they died. Tuesday is the 67th anniversary of the execution of Milada Horakova a member of parliament and democrat found guilty in a notorious show trial in 1950 staged by Czechoslovakia's Communist regime. The death penalty was carried out in spite of last minute pleas for clemency from the likes of Albert Einstein and the Pope. The day has seen a number of commemorative events honouring her memory but also that of others who suffered and perished as enemies of the regime. "Last Address" focusses on those who never came back. ...

Over 3/5 of Czechs are of the view that death penalty should exist in the Czech Republic, according to a poll conducted by the CVVM polling institute in early May and released Thursday. Leftist voters prevail among those believing that the punishment is necessary. Some 26 % of Czechs hold the view that capital punishment should "decidedly" be in the Czech Republic, while another 36 % are rather for than against it. It is absolutely opposed by 11 %, while another 21 % are rather against it. The remaining 6 % were unable to give any answer. Leftist voters, in particular those preferring the Communists (KSCM), tend to hold the view that the death penalty "decidedly should exist." Czechs with higher education more often believe that it "rather should not exist." People voting for centre-right parties and Catholics are resolutely against it. The view that capital punishment should be reinstated reached its peak in 1992-1994, w...

A Slovak court has commuted a death sentence imposed on a Hungarian World War Two criminal to life imprisonment although he remains under house arrest in his native country, the prosecution said on Thursday. Laszlo Csatary, 98, was found guilty in absentia in 1948 of whipping or torturing Jews and helping to deport them to the Auschwitz death camp when he served as police commander in the eastern Slovak city of Kosice. He was sentenced to death and lived on the run for decades until Hungarian authorities detained him and put him under house arrest in Budapest in July last year. He has denied any guilt. The sentence was changed to be in line with modern Slovak law. Czechoslovakia abolished the death penalty in 1990, three years before its division into Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Kosice prosecutor’s office spokesman Milan Filicko said. “Once the decision takes effect, the court will decide whether it will issue an arrest warrant or how it will get him to serv...

About 2/3 of Czechs support the possibility of euthanasia and the introduction of capital punishment, according to a CVVM institute's poll released today. The poll showed that church-goers are often against euthanasia and the death penalty. While also people aged over 60 tend to be more opposed to euthanasia, capital punishment has lower support among university graduates. 64 % believe that Czech legislation should make euthanasia possible, 27 % are against it. Nearly 2/3 of the respondents would like to have capital punishment reintroduced and 1/3 is against the idea. However, in the early 1990s, support for the death penalty was higher, being around 3/4 of the population. The poll was conducted among 1115 persons over 15 in early May. Source: Czech Happenings, June 29, 2011 _________________________ Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.