Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that in his opinion the death penalty should be allowed in the cases of the worst crimes.
He made the statement on Monday during a Q and A session with Facebook users.
“In my opinion, the death penalty should be admissible for the worst crimes,” Morawiecki said and added that he does not agree on the matter with the teaching of the Church.
He also said that he believes that the abolition of the death penalty was a “premature invention” and admitted that Poland’s current legal obligations did not allow for its introduction in the country.
Asked about his statement at a Tuesday press conference, Morawiecki said: “It is my personal view that if we are dealing with, for example, a serial killer, where the evidence leaves no doubt, or with a war criminal… we should also allow the death penalty.”
He added that he meant “people who have been proven guilty without any doubt, and such cases are very common, unfortunately.”
“I have presented my personal view on this matter,” he reiterated.
In 2013, Poland ratified a protocol of the European Convention of Human Rights that totally abolishes the death penalty. The protocol, passed in Vilnius on May 3, 2002, bans the death penalty in all circumstances, including for crimes committed in times of war and imminent threat of war.