EU Policy On The Death Penalty
EMBASSY OF SWEDEN
WASHINGTON
Office of the Press Counselor
Tel: (202) 467-2655
Fax: (202 )467-2656
May 1, 2001
PRESS RELEASE
The European Union Appeals to the Governor of Illinois to
Commute a Death Sentence in the Case of a Citizen of Poland
In a letter to the Governor of Illinois, the European
Union has asked for a repeal of the death sentence in the case of the
Polish citizen Gregory Madej.
Mr. Madej was sentenced to death in 1982 without having
been advised of his right to contact the Polish Consulate for legal
assistance. This right was established by the Vienna Convention on
Consular Relations, an international treaty which has been ratified by
the U.S.
In August 2000, despite the admitted violation of the
Vienna Convention, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the death sentence
of Mr. Madej by a 4-3 vote.
In the letter, the European Union commended Governor
Ryan for his decision last year to declare a moratorium on all pending
executions in Illinois while studying the appli-cation of the death
penalty. The European Union encourages the Governor to maintain the
moratorium indefinitely.
The letter was signed by Sweden, the current President
of the European Union, together with Belgium, the subsequent EU
President and the European Commission.
The European Union's position is set forth in the EU
Memorandum on the Death Penalty, which can be found at http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/DeathPenalty/eumemorandum.htm.
Letter to Illinois Governor Ryan
on Behalf of Gregory Madej.
Embassy of Sweden,
1501 M Street, N.W.,
Washington DC 20005
tel: (202) 467-2600, fax: (202) 467-2699
Homepage: www.swedenemb.org
