“I am shocked to learn that the appeal for clemency by Troy Davis has been rejected. There is still considerable doubt concerning his guilt. An execution is irreversible – a potential miscarriage of justice here cannot be set right again. Therefore I call on the authorities in the state of Georgia and in the United States to prevent the execution scheduled for this evening.
The German Federal Government rejects the death penalty for fundamental reasons of legal policy and morality. The number of executions in the United States has continually declined in recent years. Some states have done away with the death penalty completely, as Illinois recently did; others have at least issued a moratorium on executions. We urge the United States to push further in this direction.”