Brussels, 23/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 22 April, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton strongly condemned the execution of Pavel Selyun, who was sentenced to death in Belarus in June 2013, according to a press release from Ashton's spokesperson. Selyun was convicted for the murder of his wife and her lover in August 2012, whom he then dismembered. While “conscious” of the serious nature of the crimes for which he was convicted, Ashton reiterated that she does not believe that capital punishment can “be justified”.
Ashton urged Belarus, the only country in Europe still applying capital punishment, to join a global moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards its universal abolition. This execution is the first to be reported in Belarus for 2014.
Ashton reiterated that the EU opposes capital punishment under all circumstances. It is a “cruel and inhuman punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity”, she added. (CG)