Hary Pahaniayla: ‘The state cannot be forced to commit murders itself’
Hary Pahaniayla, lawyer of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, expressed his view against the death penalty, in the framework of the campaign ‘Human Rights Activists against the Death Penalty in Belarus.’ ‘The right to life is natural and inalienable. Life is given by God and no one can take it from a human being. Therefore I strongly object to the death penalty as a criminal punishment within the Belarusian legislation. The state cannot be forced to commit murders itself. The state should guarantee human life. No doubt, while defining the boundaries of human behaviour, the state should have instruments of correcting those who commit offences, especially grave ones. Life sentence is absolutely adequate as the exceptional measure of punishment for grave crimes. Besides, it enables the person to realize and correct his or her fault, both in terms of human relationships and in respect to God.’
