Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2013-05-23-Speech-4-485-000"
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"en.20130523.50.4-485-000"2
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"Mr President, first of all I would like to express my condolences to the family of Mohammad Afzal Guru. It is utterly unacceptable that his family were not informed of his imminent execution: the execution was carried out and immediately his body was kept in the prison, and there has been quite a campaign to get it returned to his family.
The Liberals and Democrats always strongly oppose the death penalty wherever it is and in whatever circumstances, and the European Union also takes that view. Still too many countries, particularly in the region of southern Asia, either do not have a moratorium on the death penalty or are crumbling around the edges about this issue.
We are seeing this not only in India (this is the second instance); we also saw in Pakistan that their moratorium was broken last year. India is the largest democracy in the world, as others have pointed out, and should be a leader instead of lagging behind in this respect. India should also be very careful that any action does not undermine the peace process in Kashmir.
We have seen some particular disturbances related to this execution, and a lot of the people on death row are not only other separatists but separatists of the Sikh cause. I worry that this is a precedent and that we could see this being used in a political sense in the run-up to the next Indian election. I think there is a view that some of those on death row who are most at risk are likely to be those of a political nature, with political contexts.
I strongly urge High Representative / Vice-President Lady Ashton to use both strong and diplomatic language – and pressure – to send this message of our firm and strict opposition to the death penalty."@en1
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