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Belarusians split down middle on death penalty issue, poll indicates

As many as 46.2 percent of the residents of Belarus support the death penalty, while 44.5 percent are opposed to it, Sergei Shimovolos, of the Moscow office of Penal Reform International (PRI), told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday with reference to a recent poll, BelaPAN said .

The poll was conducted between April and June 2013 by the Minsk-based Center of System Business Technologies SATIO at the request of the Moscow office of Penal Reform International.

A total of 36.2 percent of those interviewed said that the authorities should not change their approach to the death penalty issue, while 10 percent said that the death penalty should be applied more frequently, 16.6 percent said that it should be immediately abolished, 15.5 percent said that it should be gradually abolished, and 12.4 percent called for a moratorium on the death penalty.

As many as 53.7 percent described life imprisonment as a good alternative to the death penalty, while 42.1 percent expressed the opposite view.

Opposition to the death penalty was more common among young people than among elderly people. As many as 33.9 percent of those who professed religious belief and 46.8 percent of those who described themselves as unbelievers said that they were in favor of capital punishment.

Twenty-two percent of those interviewed in Minsk and 42 percent of the respondents in the district capitals expressed support for the death penalty.

According to the poll, 10 percent of the Belarusians believe that the death penalty has already been abolished, seven percent think that no one had been executed in the country for many years, and 5.5 percent think that the government has declared a moratorium on the death penalty. As many 10.5 percent of the respondents replied that they had nothing to say on the issue.

The poll shows that Minsk has the largest share of people ignorant of the real situation regarding the death penalty.

Belarus is the only country in Europe and the post-Soviet region where the death sentence remains a sentencing option and prisoners are executed. The Belarusian authorities have preserved the death penalty for "premeditated, aggravated murder" and 12 other peacetime offenses.

The death penalty was abolished thrice in Belarus since 1912 but was always restored. More than 80 percent of those who took part in a 1996 national referendum reportedly voted against abolishing it. In 2006, the government enacted an amendment to the Criminal Code, which indicated the temporary nature of the use of the death penalty in Belarus.

The European Union and many international organizations have long called on Belarus to declare a moratorium on the death penalty.