TIMES UNION

WEDNESDAY 27, 1995

P.1

Budapest, Hungary "..... Meanwhile, Pataki defended New York's death penalty as a small group of Hungarians called a news conference to denounce the new law. Members of the Transnational Radical Party also said as many as 500 death penalty opponents could be on hand to rally against Pataki when his European visit shifts to Rome on Thursday. The organization which claims 40,000 members in 75 nations in the world and offered support for environmental issues and expanding the United Nations peacekeeping role. Defending New York's decision to restore the death penalty, a punishment most of Europe has rejected, Pataki said, "If you look at the rate of violent crime in Hungary or Rome or Italy and compare it to the violent crime, particularly homicide in New York, there's just no comparison. Pataki, cautious of his guest status, said he nonetheless welcomed the difference of opinion in a country where such outspokenness was shunned not long ago. 'I welcome the fact that there is this ability for different opi

nions to be expressed openly,' he said.