2015-11-30 HKT 14:57
Father Franco Mella talks to RTHK's Michelle Chan
A group of activists held protests outside the Indonesian Consulate and Beijing’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong on Monday to call for the abolition of the death penalty.
An alleged drug dealer from Hong Kong, Wong Chi-ping, was sentenced to death by an Indonesian court earlier this month for possessing hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine, while a Beijing court in October handed down a death sentence to a Hong Kong businessman who was caught with a large quantity of cocaine.
The Joint-Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty activists called on Beijing and Jakarta not to go ahead with the capital punishment.
The spokesperson of the organisation, Father Franco Mella, condemned the death penalty as a violation of human rights. Mella told RTHK’s Michelle Chan that “you cannot use the law to kill people. Life is sacred, so killing is not the solution to any problem.” He added that international experience shows that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent against serious crime.
The protest also marked the Cities for Life Day – a worldwide movement that supports the abolition of the death penalty. It is celebrated on November 30, the day on which the Grand Duchy of Tuscany banned the death penalty in 1786.
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Last updated: 2015-11-30 HKT 15:33
An alleged drug dealer from Hong Kong, Wong Chi-ping, was sentenced to death by an Indonesian court earlier this month for possessing hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine, while a Beijing court in October handed down a death sentence to a Hong Kong businessman who was caught with a large quantity of cocaine.
The Joint-Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty activists called on Beijing and Jakarta not to go ahead with the capital punishment.
The spokesperson of the organisation, Father Franco Mella, condemned the death penalty as a violation of human rights. Mella told RTHK’s Michelle Chan that “you cannot use the law to kill people. Life is sacred, so killing is not the solution to any problem.” He added that international experience shows that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent against serious crime.
The protest also marked the Cities for Life Day – a worldwide movement that supports the abolition of the death penalty. It is celebrated on November 30, the day on which the Grand Duchy of Tuscany banned the death penalty in 1786.
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Last updated: 2015-11-30 HKT 15:33
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1226728-20151130.htm
