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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
RFI

‘Fear of death doesn't deter violent crime,’ experts say as executions rise

Activists protest the execution of Malaysian national Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, sentenced to death for trafficking heroin into Singapore, 19 February, 2025. AFP - MOHD RASFAN

As countries mark World Day Against the Death Penalty on Friday – a day after France honoured Robert Badinter, the man who ended it in the country – experts say capital punishment is still failing to stop crime and instead fuels violence.

On 17 September, 1981, Badinter, then France’s justice minister, stood before the National Assembly and declared: “Those who believe in the deterrent effect of the death penalty misunderstand human nature."

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