Poles vote against death penalty

POLISH MPs narrowly voted against reintroducing the death penalty yesterday after a series of killings that outraged the nation.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski had threatened to veto the proposal if MPs chose to bring back capital punishment seven years after the country abolished it to meet European human rights standards. Parliament's lower house voted 198-194 with 14 abstentions to reject the proposal by the centre-right opposition Law and Justice party.