Capital punishment in Cyprus

Cyprus is a signatory to the second optional protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides for full abolition of capital punishment.

Three men, Hambis Zacharia, Michael Hiletikos and Lazaris Demetriou, were hanged for murder at the Central Jail of Nicosia,[4] the country's only prison.

The unrecognised state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus retains the death penalty in limited circumstances.

Article 15 of the state's constitution declares that capital punishment can be imposed in cases of treason during wartime, acts of terrorism and piracy jure gentium, and for repeated murders.

Even in these instances, no execution of capital punishment can be carried out unless the Northern Cyprus legislative assembly decides so under the provisions of Article 78.

The gallows at the Nicosia Central Prison, now a museum (2006)