BELARUS ON ITS OWN WAY TOWARDS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT BAN

February 22, 2010: Belarus will seek its own way to ban capital punishment, Nikolai Samoseiko, Chairman of the Legislation and Court Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, head of the parliamentary ad hoc group on capital punishment matters, said.
He stressed that the number of death penalty verdicts has been greatly reduced. While in 1998 the number stood at 47, in 2008 and 2009 it made up 2 per annum. Asked when the bill to ban capital punishment may be ready, Nikolai Samoseiko did not mention specific dates. He added it would be incorrect to say that the decision to ban death penalty will be introduced as a bill. In line with a ruling of the Constitutional Court the decision can be made either by the president or the parliament. (Sources: Law.by, 22/02/2010)