Warsaw, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki surprised him by speaking in favor of the death penalty and admitting he did not share the position of the Roman Catholic Church on the issue.
That seems to be an isolated view among leaders in the 27-member European Union, which does not have the death penalty. His words drew criticism from the opposition.
Morawiecki, a practicing Catholic, made the remarks late Monday during a public Q&A session with Facebook users.
When asked by an apparently critical person if the death penalty could stop his government from doing things that do more harm to society, Morawiecki said it was a tough question, but he continued. continue to answer.
“In my opinion, the death penalty should be accepted for the most serious crimes,” Morawiecki said, noting that “I disagree on this with church teaching, because I is a proponent of the death penalty.”
He called its repeal a “premature invention.”
Some opposition lawmakers, including Monika Falej, note that such views are characteristic of authoritarian rulers.
Poland abolished the death penalty in 1997, as it dropped some communist-era regulations and prepared to join the EU. In 2013, Poland ratified a protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights aimed at the complete abolition of the death penalty.
