Polish lawmakers narrowly voted against reintroducing the death penalty Friday, seven years after abolishing it to meet European human rights standards. Parliament's lower house voted 198-194 with 14 abstentions to reject the proposal by the center-right opposition Law and Justice party. President Aleksander Kwasniewski has said he would veto any law restoring the death penalty, calling it a "mistaken concept that goes against European standards" and the teachings of Polish-born Pope John Paul II.
| Premeditated murder apparently isn't... |
Friday's vote followed a series of headline-grabbing murders in Poland, including the case of a young woman who was tortured and killed on a train, then dumped out of the window. The killings prompted conservative legislators in June to propose bringing back the death penalty for murders committed with "extreme cruelty" and with motives "deserving special condemnation."
| Premeditation would be enough to meet my personal criterion. It's my opinion the perps should join their victims as a simple matter of justice. |
Poland, which joined the European Union on May 1, eliminated the death penalty in 1997 while moving to adopt EU standards. In 2000, Poland ratified a protocol to the European Charter on Human Rights that pledges it not to use capital punishment. |