Emma Bonino MEP asked Democratic Republic of Congo's...

Emma Bonino MEP asked Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila to pardon 30 people sentenced to death for the murder of his father, former president Laurent Kabila. "In response to my request to publicly commit to not execute the assassins of his father, President Kabila told me that he hoped to submit a commutation to the parliamentary assembly," Bonino told AFP after meeting with Kabila. "The Democratic Republic of Congo is a lawful state and justice must be done," Bonino said after meeting the president of the central African country in the capital of Kinshasa. "But the institutions should not put themselves on a criminal level by practicing vengeance," the Italian member of the European Parliament said. A commutation of the death sentences would serve as a "strong signal that this country is a country of laws," Bonino said. "The decision, both for DRC and for President Kabila, will be symbolic... and symbols are important in politics." Bonino's request was part of a wider campaign against the death penalty with Hands Off Cain and the support of the European Union. In January 2003, a DRC military court handed down death sentences to 30 people convicted of planning and taking part in the assassination of president Laurent Kabila on January 16, 2001.