EU calls on Belarus to abolish death penalty

After another death was recorded in Belarus, this time of Viktar Skrundzik, who was sentenced to death by the Minsk Regional Court, the EU reiterated its opposition to the country’s practice and called on Belarus to declare a moratorium on capital punishment.
According to a statement issued by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the death penalty “violates the right to life, which is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” and Belarus should “commute the remaining death sentences”.
The Union has repeatedly called for the abolition of capital punishment in Belarus, the only country in the European territory that still carries out executions and refuses to abide by international law.
“The death penalty … is the highest cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The death verdicts cannot serve as a deterrent to crime. Justice errors are irreversible,” said the EU in a statement on January.