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BBC, UK
Jan. 22, 2005
news.bbc.co.uk

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ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 10031 • Posted: Sunday January 23, 2005  

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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Austrian citizenship should be ended over the execution of a convicted killer in the US, a politician in Austria has said.

Peter Pilz, of the Green Party, said the Californian governor broke Austrian law by allowing Donald Beardslee’s death by lethal injection on Wednesday.

He said Mr Schwarzenegger, who has dual nationality, had “heavily damaged the reputation of the republic.”

He has submitted a formal written request to the Austrian government.

“Schwarzenegger is possibly the most prominent Austrian abroad, and he shapes the picture of Austria,” Mr Pilz said.

“I don’t want that picture shaped by someone who commits state murder. That does not correspond to the political culture of this country.”

Capital punishment ‘unacceptable’

Mr Pilz said Austrian law states that citizenship can be revoked if an Austrian “in the service of another country substantially damages the interests or reputation of the republic by his or her behaviour.”

Mr Pilz said: “Capital punishment is unacceptable in Austria and in Europe, and no Austrian citizen may take part in it or arrange it.”

The Austrian interior ministry has not commented on Mr Pilz’s request, which appears unlikely to hold much sway with Austria’s conservative government.

Beardslee, 61, convicted of two killings in 1981, was given a lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison.

The execution came hours after Mr Schwarzenegger rejected a clemency petition. In Vienna, it triggered a small but spirited protest outside the US embassy.

In Graz, near Mr Schwarzenegger’s birthplace of Thal, the Greens have been campaigning to rename Schwarzenegger Stadium, a sports venue, over his support for capital punishment.

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