Posted: August 24th, 2010, 10:08am MSD
[JURIST] Capital punishment advocates in Switzerland can begin collecting signatures in support of a referendum [text, in German] to reinstate the death penalty [JURIST news archive] for those convicted of murder, the Federal Chancellery [official website, in German] announced Tuesday. Campaigners for the referendum have until February 24, 2012, to accumulate at least 100,000 signatures in support of the measure in order to force a national popular vote. Capital punishment was abolished from Switzerland's criminal code in 1942 and remained part of the country's military laws until 1992. The last military execution, however, took place in 1944. The Swiss Federal...