A recent survey conducted by CVVM, a Czech public opinion research center, found that most Czech citizens oppose the death penalty for the first time since 1992. Of 834 respondents, 51% were against the death penalty, while only 42% supported it.
The survey also found that support for the death penalty had decreased by 34 percentage points since 1992, when the agency started polling public opinion. At the beginning of the 1990s, only 13% of Czech citizens were against the death penalty.
While the number of supporters of the death penalty has decreased over the years, the number of opponents has increased. However, the increase has not been continuous or straightforward. In 2019, when the last comparable survey was conducted, 50% of Czech citizens still supported the death penalty.
The survey also revealed that people are primarily concerned about the potential for abuse (83%) and the risk of judicial error (81%) in cases involving the death penalty. On the other hand, 62% of respondents agreed that the death penalty would just be retribution for victims and their families.
Despite the decreased support for the death penalty, the topic remains controversial in the Czech Republic. The country abolished the death penalty in 1990, and the issue has not been seriously debated since then. However, the survey shows that public opinion is shifting, and the problem may need to be revisited.
It is important to note that the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union, which has abolished the death penalty. The EU is actively working to promote the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.
The survey was conducted from March 27 to May 22, 2021, and the margin of error is +/- 3.4 percentage points.