AN INTERNATIONAL conference against capital punishment will be hosted in Lisbon later this year during Portugal’s presidency of the European Union.
Speaking in Brussels, Justice Minister Alberto Costa said that Portugal has informed its fellow EU members of its plans to host the conference in October. He also added that the initiative is being supported by the European Commission.
The minister said that the conference, which is aimed to focus growing European pressure to abolish the death penalty, had been originally conceived in November last year. However, due to recent developments, such as the high profile executions in Iraq, “it has been given more importance.”
Portugal takes on the EU presidency from July 1.
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