Seventeen years on death row, this testimony book, written by an American prisoner sentenced to death, Richard Rossi and published in 2001 by Fayard, did not let indifferent an inhabitant of Toulouse. After the reading of this book, Pascal Marfaing, 36 years old, began to correspond with this prisoner, sentenced to death since 1983 for committing a murder. "On several hundred pages, he says he is going to die. I wanted to do something and I would like to draw people's attention to the death penalty in the United States", says Pascal.

Nothing before had made Pascal aware of this topic, moreover he is active in any association. It is the shock caused by this testimony that decided him. "Some books drag us in an abyss always deeper, always darker. So it is with this testimony", writes Robert Badinter, former secretary of justice, who writes a preface to this book.

"Seventeen years on death row, it seems enormous...", says Pascal. "From an appeal to another appeal, the prisoners are living in an endless wait. Sometimes they endure more than 20 years like this. A torture", adds Pascal.

A cell which measures 2.3 by 3.5 meters (7 1/2 X 11 Ft)

"The testimony of Rossi, 55 years old today, is touching. He had a difficult childhood, was beaten by his father and his mother. He fell into drug-habit. And it is to find money by selling a typewriter that he shot a man and wounded a woman", relates Pascal.

Must this crime be punished with death? "Death penalty is unacceptable in a largest democracy", says Pascal.

In the letters they are exchanging since fifteen months now (a letter a month), Pascal asks the prisoner about his living conditions. "In the high security prison of Florence in Arizona, Richard Rossi has also been placed in isolation in a cell which measures 2.30 by 3.50 meters. Of course he suffers from long periods of depression. His poor health does not allow him to work."

Letter after letter, a friendship has formed between the prisoner and Pascal. A friendship which allows them to discuss on more personal topics. Pascal suffers from the spinal column and does not work since the age of 21, this is the reason why he is still living at his parents' house, in a somewhat of isolation. "I read a lot, I watch television, I listen to music", notes Pascal. Books and television programs which nurture his conversations at a distance.

Pascal is full of hope: Richard must be judged again: "I think that with this new trial and a better defense, he can avoid the death penalty".

Death penalty is the topic of the moment in the United States. Last week, the Governor of Illinois decided to commute the death penalty of the inmates of his State to prison for life. " I hope that this decision will be like a domino and will lead to another", says Pascal.

Review by Mariom Meijboom