EU opposes death penalty moratorium removal in Pakistan

Islamabad, Dec 24:

The European Union (EU) Wednesday called for the immediate restoration of the moratorium on death penalty in Pakistan.

“We believe that the death penalty is not an effective tool in the fight against terrorism,” the EU envoy to Pakistan Lars-Gunnar Wigemark said in a statement.

The envoy further added that the EU delegation regrets the decision of the Pakistani government to lift the moratorium on executions, which had been in place since 2008, Dawn online reported.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Dec 17 approved the lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty after a Taliban attack on Peshawar Army School Dec 16, in 148 people, including 132 children, were killed.

Four death-row prisoners, who were convicted for involvement in an attack on former president Pervez Musharraf, were executed Dec 19 at a district jail in Faisalabad.

Another two convicts were executed last Sunday.

Ambassador Wigemark also said that the EU remains opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances and expressed hope that the moratorium will be re-established at the earliest.

The envoy further assured that the EU stands by Pakistan and shares its grief after the horrific carnage in the Peshawar school. (IANS)