24 November 2005 :

seven regional Presidents have lent their name to an appeal promoted by Hands Off Cain to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to halt the execution of Stanley Williams scheduled to take place on December 13.
Claudio Martini, President of Tuscany, Vasco Errani (Emilia-Romagna) and Nichi Vendola (Puglia) have added their signatures to those of Piero Marrazzo (Lazio), Salvatore Cuffaro (Sicily), Mercedes Bresso (Piedmont) and Ottaviano Del Turco (Abruzzo).
“Yes its true that a state’s judicial system should guarantee the respect of law and that the punishment should reflect the crime committed,” stated Bresso, “but it is also true that the negation of life goes against the right to life that every individual has and constitutes a form of abuse which becomes an even bigger injustice if carried out by public institutions of democratic states. Moreover, it is shown that the death penalty per se does not deter crime and denies the convict the possibility of rehabilitation,” concluded the President of Piedmont.
Willams, 51, was sentenced to death in California in 1981 for murders committed during armed robberies for which he has always declared himself innocent.
Founder of the Crips gang in Los Angeles, he has distanced himself from his gang related past whilst in prison and has written a series of books encouraging youths to stay away from gang life.