BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces MP Elie Keyrouz reiterated his party’s calls for abolishing the death penalty in Lebanon Wednesday on the ninth World Day against the Death Penalty.

“I submitted a draft law to the Cabinet earlier this year, on behalf of the LF, calling for abolishing the death penalty in the country,” said Keyrouz in a statement.

The MP said that the death penalty should be outlawed to make Lebanese society more humane.

“Crime should be addressed as a social phenomenon,” said Keyrouz. “We should work with criminals to reform them and reintegrate them in society,” he added.

According to the European Union, Lebanon is among a list of fifty-eight countries that still allow the death penalty, with the last execution taking place in 2004.

There are fears that the large numbers of people given death sentences for spying for Israel might mean executions may take place in the near future.