Cyprus parliament strikes death penalty from constitution

Cypriot Parliament ruled to approve an amendment to strike out a provision in the Cypriot constitution which enables the imposition of the death penalty on Friday.  

The majority of MPs who gathered this morning for the first plenary session of the 2016/17 period voted in favour of writing off the second paragraph of article 7. This was the 10th amendment in the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.

Of those present, 49 voted in favour while both ELAM MPs abstained. The Cyprus House consists of 56 MPs from eight political parties.

The amendment was deemed necessary because “the Republic of Cyprus as a state governed by the rule of law that defends human rights and in particular the right to life and to physical integrity, opposes as a matter of principle the imposition of the death penalty.”

The reasoning behind the amendment also notes that the Republic of Cyprus is an EU member state and abides by the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The article that was removed provided for the possibility of imposing the death penalty by law in cases of premeditated murder, high treason, piracy or any offence resulting in the capital punishment under military law.

Addressing the plenary CNA reported, Parliament President Demetris Syllouris said that there are a few fundamental articles in the Constitution that also refer to the capital punishment, which are being examined by the Attorney General.

“Serious work needs to be done and the House will do its bid, in consultation with the Attorney General and the President of the House Committee on Legal Affairs,” Syllouris concluded.

History of death penalty in Cyprus

The last time the death penalty was imposed in Cyprus was in 1962.

Specifically, information from the UK said that the last execution in the Republic of Cyprus was on June 13, 1962.

On that day, British executioners Harry Allen and John Underhill arrived in Cyprus and executed three prisoners, Hambis Zacharia, Michael Hiletikos, Lazaris Demetriou, who had all be imprisoned on murder charges.  

Zacharia had killed a man four years prior in a vineyard in Limassol, and Hiletikos and Demetriou had been convicted of shooting a man in Limassol in 1961.  

In the occupied areas the so called ‘constitution’ contains a provision for the death penalty.  

Article 15 states: “A law may provide for such penalty only in cases of high treason in times of war, piracy and terrorism jure gentium or repeated conviction of an offence punishable with life imprisonment.”

Three conditions

The so called ‘constitution’ added that there are three conditions for which the death penalty will not be applied.  

Specifically the conditions are as follows:

- Defending one’s self or property against the infliction of a proportionate and otherwise unavoidable and irreparable evil

- Effecting an arrest or in preventing the escape of a person lawfully detained

- Taking action for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection, when and as provided by law

The so called ‘TRNC’ has never carried out an execution, despite its inclusion in the so called ‘constitution'. 

Read more here.

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