I phoned the US for the first time in my life last Thursday. I called the office of Governor Fallin of Oklahoma, to ask for a stay of execution and for DNA testing for Timothy Stemple.
The good thing was that the office was taking calls, I heard plenty of ringing and receiving of calls in the background, so it wasn't just one line being answered.
The bad thing was that it was of no use to this particular prisoner or his family. At least I know I have acted along with many others campaigning to abolish the death penalty in the USA, state by state.
In our part of the world Belarus is the only one which still uses the death penalty. I do not think it is right for judges to be expected to issue such penalties and for prison staff to be expected to carry them out.
Picking up the phone and being connected to another world so easily is an amazing feeling and I'm glad you did it for such a just reason. I can't understand the death penalty at all and what I have in mind right now is that joke that goes "If you kill someone in Texas we'll kill you right back". Madness.
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