MP PROPOSES INTRODUCING MORATORIUM IN BELARUS

March 6, 2009: the Belarusian authorities are unlikely to agree to abolish the death penalty in the country, but a Russian-style death penalty moratorium will be an acceptable option, Yevgeny Smirnov, chairman of the legislative commission of the National Assembly, the upper chamber of the Belarusian Parliament, said. Smirnov added: "Especially as it has already effectively become valid." "If our courts have achieved this number of verdicts - two a year, a moratorium can probably be introduced," Smirnov said.
Smirnov explained he is convinced that the presence of the death penalty acts as a deterring factor, "although irreversible mistakes of judges make us look at the problem from a different perspective." (Sources: Interfax, 06/03/2009)