The Archbishop of Mt Hagen in Papua New Guinea, Douglas Young, has expressed his deep concern at PNG’s Justice Minister’s determination to execute 13 men currently on death row.
After many months of public condemnation of PNG’s revived and expanded death penalty laws, Archbishop Young says Church leaders are now looking at hosting a national and international coalition to lobby against the laws, and to have them repealed.
13 men are on death row and, according to the media, “have very few days left”. “It is unlikely they will see another Christmas”, said the “The National” newspaper on January 27
On 29 January the fate of the 13 men, five of whom were sentenced to death for wilful murder and the other eight with “crimes of piracy” became more urgent when Fides, the international information service of Pontifical Mission Societies reported claims in The Nation, that the men “only have a few days left.”
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Additional reading- Capital Punishment push on the back burner
- UN calls on PNG to reconsider death penalty policy
- PNG says executions will go ahead this year
- UN askim PNG long lukluk ken long polisi blong kilim pipol i brukim loa
News category: Asia Pacific.