ZANZIBAR STATE LAWYER AGAINST DEATH PENALTY

a Zanzibar Senior State Attorney, Ali Hassan, has said there is need for the government to abolish capital punishment, since it does little to mould criminals. Hassan made the call when presenting a paper on the death penalty at the Zanzibar Legal Service Centre. He said most dictators were from Africa and could utilize the capital punishment to kill the opposition, especially where the legal system was unfair. `A punishment is meant to mould criminals in the society. However, criminal acts seem to have gone up since the death penalty was introduced.
‘Research findings indicate that the death penalty solves nothing because countries carrying capital punishment record higher criminal incidents as days go by,` said Hassan. He called for review of the relevant laws. Contributing to the debate, a priest with the Anglican Church in Zanzibar, Mathew Wilfred, said: `Capital punishment helps neither the punished nor the defendant. I think we should ban it. It is wise to let God punish someone`s soul rather than human beings doing the job on their own. There are a number of punishments which could be applied instead.`