Europeans Outraged at Schwarzenegger
"Schwarzenegger's decision is a cowardly decision," -Volker Beck, a leading member of the opposition party in Germany.
"Mr. Williams had converted and, unlike Mr. Schwarzenegger, opposed every form of violence," -Richard Schadauer, chairman of the Association of Christianity and Social Democracy. (Austria)
"We know the death penalty doesn't resolve anything. Even a criminal is worthy of respect because he is a human being. The death penalty is a negation of human dignity." -Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope Benedict XVI's top official for justice matters.
"Schwarzenegger has a lot of muscles, but apparently not much heart,"
-French Socialist Party spokesman Julien Dray
"The execution of Tookie Williams is even more intolerable exactly because he had managed to transform the negative into the positive, violence into nonviolence,"
-Franco Danieli, vice president of the Italian Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee
Fun fact to know and tell:
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.