From 1935 to Estonia's incorporation into the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in 1940, inmates condemned by civilian courts were given a choice to die either by poison-induced suicide or by hanging, as outlined in the Criminal Procedure Code (which took effect on 1 February 1935): ''"One hour before the scheduled time of the execution, the condemned shall be taken to a death cell, where the state prosecutor will read the death sentence and ask the prisoner whether he is willing to commit suicide. If the answer is in the affirmative, the prosecutor will hand the condemned a glass of poison—the kind of poison to be determined by the National Health Board. If the doomed man fails to take the poison within five minutes he will be hanged.'"'' Military executions were carried out by a

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are ...

. During the Soviet era, the method of execution became a single shot by firearm to the back of the head. The last

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

took place on 11 September 1991 when Rein Oruste, convicted of murders, was

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 f ...

in the back of the head at Patarei Prison. The death penalty was completely abolished in Estonia on 18 March 1998 when Protocol No. 6 to the ECHR was signed.

Poll

In 2015, a poll found 70% of Estonians in favor of the death penalty. This was an increase of support from 62% in a 2010 poll.

References

External links

* http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2311219 * https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4ZsNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bC4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2039,1857882&dq=esthonia+hanged+poison&hl=en Law of Estonia Estoni Death in Estonia Human rights abuses in Estonia 1998 disestablishments in Estonia {{Europe-law-stub