Azerbaijan proposes abolishing death penalty

The President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, has called on parliament to abolish the death penalty, in a bid to secure full membership of the Council of Europe.

Mr Aliyev said he was certain lawmakers would approve the measure, which he described as a humane gesture.

More than one-hundred prisoners are on death row in Azerbaijan, which has has observed a moratorium on capital punishment since 1993.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service