A five-day campaign against the death penalty began in Minsk on Monday with the support of the European Union`s delegation to Belarus.
The Moscow office of a human rights organization called Penal Reform International, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the Belarusian Association of Journalists and Belarusian-registered charity organization Christian Social Ministry are the organizers of the campaign, which will involve public lectures, round-table discussions and the screening of movies about the death penalty.
Mikalay Matrunchyk, a representative of Christian Social Ministry, described the Belarusian people`s attitudes to the death penalty as very unstable and based on emotions than reason.
Sergei Shimovolos, an activist of Penal Reform International, noted that the Belarusian people knew very little about capital punishment. He cited the findings of a poll indicating that 10 percent of the Belarusians believe the death penalty in Belarus had already been abolished.
