04/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Fresh call from Ashton against death penalty. On 2 March, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton called on China to review its current policy on capital punishment and to move away from the death penalty. She called on the Chinese government to re-consider the continued use of capital punishment, after the executions of Naw Kham, Hsang Kham, Yi Lai and Zha Xika the previous day. Ashton reiterated that the EU is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and calls for its universal abolition. The four men, alleged drug traffickers - one from Burma, one from Thailand, one from Laos and one stateless - were sentenced to death for the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong in 2011. (CG/transl.fl)