Lithuania has been a member of the Council of Europe...

Lithuania has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1993 and there have been no executions in the country since 1995. The last person executed was Lithuanian Mafia boss Boris Dekanidze in July 1995, after being convicted of complicity in the murder of a journalist. In December 1998, the Lithuanian Constitutional Court held that the provisions of the Criminal Code on the death penalty were unconstitutional. On December 22, 1998 the Lithuanian Parliament passed a law amending several provisions of the Criminal Code and confirming the abolition of the death penalty. At the same time, another law was passed converting death sentences already pronounced to life imprisonment. Nine prisoners were thought to be on death row at the time.