TAIWAN: FRENCH EXPERT URGES POLITICAL LEADERS TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY

in abolishing the death penalty, political leaders should take the responsibility of "leading the people" instead of following public opinion, as "they are elected to make the decision," a French anti-death penalty activist said in Taiwan. Sylvie Bukhari de Pontual is a lawyer, a member of the Bar of Paris and an associate professor at the Catholic Institute of Paris. She came to Taiwan earlier this month to attend a Taipei conference on the abolition of the death penalty. Admitting that the greatest resistances to the abolition of the death penalty comes from the public, Bukhari de Pontual claimed that "political leaders have a very important responsibility to not follow public opinion but to tell the public which direction they should take, " she said.