Posted on 12/13/2005 12:50:24 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
The execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams sparked outrage Tuesday throughout Europe, which has a deep aversion to capital punishment sustained by the painful memory of state-organized murder during the Nazi era. The disappointment was particularly strong in Austria, native country of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, where many had hoped the former bodybuilder and film star would spare the 51-year-old Williams.
Leaders of Austria's opposition Green Party even called for Schwarzenegger to be stripped of his Austrian citizenship _ a demand rejected by Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel as "absurd" despite his government's opposition to the death penalty.
Capital punishment is illegal throughout the European Union, and the issue was amplified in Williams' case due to the remorse supporters believe the Crips gang co-founder showed by writing children's books about the dangers of gangs and violence.
Schwarzenegger rejected that argument and allowed the execution to go ahead Tuesday, saying "without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption."
Williams was convicted in connection with four killings during a pair of armed robberies in 1979. But he never wavered from his claim of innocence and refused to confess to crimes he did not commit, even if doing so would save his life.
Six decades after World War II, opposition to the death penalty remains deeply entrenched in Germany and Austria, a stance resulting from remorse for the evils committed by these countries under Adolf Hitler and an attempt to prevent future state-sponsored killing.
Volker Beck, a leading member of the opposition Greens party in Germany, expressed disappointment at the execution. "Schwarzenegger's decision is a cowardly decision," he told the Netzeitung online newspaper.
In Graz, Schwarzenegger's hometown, local Greens said they would file a petition to remove the California governor's name from the city's Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium. A Christian political group suggested it be renamed for Williams.
"Mr. Williams had converted and, unlike Mr. Schwarzenegger, opposed every form of violence," said Richard Schadauer, chairman of the Association of Christianity and Social Democracy.
At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI's top official for justice matters denounced the execution.
"We know the death penalty doesn't resolve anything," said Cardinal Renato Martino. "Even a criminal is worthy of respect because he is a human being. The death penalty is a negation of human dignity."
Most of the outcry in Europe came from opposition political parties, city leaders, human rights groups and churches, with national leaders remaining silent.
"Schwarzenegger has a lot of muscles, but apparently not much heart," French Socialist Party spokesman Julien Dray told RTL radio.
In Italy, Franco Danieli, vice president of the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized executions as an act of "dehumanization."
"The execution of Tookie Williams is even more intolerable exactly because he had managed to transform the negative into the positive, violence into nonviolence," Danieli said.
Amnesty International also condemned the execution.
"Tookie Williams' violent past was well known, but he had become a textbook version of rehabilitation and his execution was a travesty of justice," said Kate Allen, the group's director in Britain.
Rome's Colosseum, once the arena for deadly gladiator combat and executions, has become a symbol of Italy's anti-death penalty stance. Since 1999, the monument has been bathed in golden light every time a death sentence is commuted somewhere in the world or a country abolishes capital punishment.
"I hope there will be such an occasion soon," Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said. "When it happens, we will do it with a special thought for Tookie."
Another good reason to laud Arnold's decision.
Phoney Baloneys of a feather...
I guess he can cross off being leader of the EU in his next career. Maybe the UN.....
Ah yes, the Al AP news agency spraying more liberal slop all over us. Screw the Euros. The jerks should realize that he does not work for them, or operate under their laws or their socialist/liberal thinking.
That does not matter to the MSM...
Bravo Foxtrot Delta
Sheesh, what a bunch of whiners. They want the multiple murderer to live, let him live in their home.
Too bad, so sad
I love being lectured by degenerates like European "Greens".
Ah yes, Europe, the land where capital punishment and jews are looked on at with disdain. They can't whip themselves into a state of even mild concern about a real problem, though -- say, Iran? *snort*
I seriously doubt that there are more than seven people in all of Europe who are actually OUTRAGED over this.
Love it. To hell with these jackasses. If they had capital punishment maybe they might have less crime.
Uhhhh... no.
He would exhibit remorse by apologizing to the families of his victims.
The hen-scratchings of an illiterate thug that sold 300 copies does not imply remorse.
Someone should remind the Euro's that Schwarzeneggar didn't sentence Williams to die. He was tried in a court of law, convicted by a jury, sentenced by a judge, and every court in the land had declared that he must die. Arnold's only involvement was his decision not to get involved.
To hear the Euro's blather on, you'd think that the governor had executed the guy himself.
I give less that a rats fat buttocks what the EU scum think.
Well stated. Arnold had nothing to do with convicting or sentencing that killer.
The worlds biggest hypocrites have spoken. Come back when you acquire one ethical bone in your collective body.
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