10 Feb 2003

Calls in Samoa for death penalty to be carried out following murder of five year old

6:34 am on 10 February 2003

The rape and murder of a five year old girl in Samoa has led to calls for the return of the long un-used death penalty.

A 19-year-old man was arrested a day after the girl's body was found.

The head of the End Child Prostitution and Trafficking advocacy, Veletaloola Matia Semu, told local papers that in cases such as this, the death penalty should be carried out.

Samoa has not enforced its mandatory death penalty since independence in 1962; ....its last execution was in 1951 when it was still ruled by New Zealand