Zimbabwe cabinet scraps colonial-era death penalty law

FILE PHOTO: President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's cabinet on Tuesday agreed to abolish the death penalty following months of debate in parliament, choosing instead to impose lengthy prison sentences for the worst offences.

The cabinet passed a private member's bill introduced last year in the National Assembly to abolish the death penalty inherited from British colonial rule.