Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

was a pioneer in the process of abolition of

capital punishment 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 t ...

. No executions have been carried out since 1846, with the formal abolishment of capital punishment for civil crimes occurring in 1867. The method of capital punishment used in Portugal was by hanging. Portugal was the first country in the world to begin the process to abolish the death penalty, abolishing it in stages – for political crimes in 1852, for all crimes except the military in 1867, and for all crimes in 1911. In 1916, Portugal entered in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and it was re-established for military crimes in wartime with a foreign country in the

theatre of war In warfare, a theater or theatre is an area in which important military events occur or are in progress. A theater can include the entirety of the airspace, land and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations. T ...

. With the new Constitution in 1976, it was again abolished for all crimes. The last execution in Portugal took place in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

in 1846. The execution of a soldier of the

Portuguese Expeditionary Corps The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP, Portuguese: ''Corpo Expedicionário Português'') was the main military force from Portugal that fought in the Western Front, during World War I. Portuguese neutrality ended in 1916 after the Portuguese ...

carried out in France during

was poorly documented until recently; soldier João Augusto Ferreira de Almeida, executed by

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 ...

on 16 September 1917, was issued a "moral rehabilitation" by the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

and the President of the Republic (as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces) in 2017 (100th anniversary of his execution and 150th anniversary of the end of capital punishment for civil crimes in Portugal) — the action was purely symbolic, and not a reappreciation of the facts of the case, an

exoneration Exoneration occurs when the conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate convicts are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially w ...

, or a pardon; merely the "rehabilitation of the memory of a soldier convicted to a sentence contrary to human rights and the values and principles that have been long ingrained in Portuguese society." In the 2008 European Values Study (EVS), 51.6% of respondents in Portugal said the death penalty can never be justified, while only 1.5% said it can be always justified.

Politics

Today, most political circles are opposed to the idea of reintroducing the death penalty, although it has support from some members of the Chega, a far right,

anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...

and nationalist political party. In a 2020 Chega party referendum, 44% voted in favour of death penalty for crimes such as terrorism or child abuse.https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lCZzmR3WkEkJ:https://jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/en/news/eleicoes-diretas-do-chega-chamam-11-313-militantes-a-referendar-andre-ventura-e-a-pena-de-morte-633261+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au

References

{{Capital punishment in Europe

Capital punishment 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 t ...

Death in Portugal 1911 disestablishments 1867 disestablishments 1976 disestablishments in Portugal