31/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - EU condemns confirmation of death sentence in Belarus. On Wednesday 30 March, the spokesperson for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said: “The European Union opposes capital punishment in all cases. It has proved to fail as a deterrent and it represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity”, commenting on the confirmation by Belarus' supreme court of the death sentence imposed on Ivan Kulesh, who had been found guilty of murder and theft by the regional court of Grodno in November 2015 (see EUROPE 11436). The spokesperson continued: “We urge Belarus, the only country in Europe which still applies capital punishment, to respect the right to life of each one of its citizens and to join a global moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards its abolition”. (CG)