Hanging

Hanging Until 1858 , the procedure of hanging was not regulated by any law or decree. How the hanging was carried out depended solely on local circumstances and decisions made by local officials in charge. No special apparatus (gallows) was used for hangings. The hanging rope would most often be tied to a tree branch and the victim would either be hoisted up or placed on an improvised platform which would then be kicked out from under his feet. There were no professional or official hangmen. This work was usually done by policemen or by men who served as servants and/or bodyguards to local dignitaries in charge of executions. From 1858 to 1930 there were no hangings in Serbia, as the only legal method of execution in this period was shooting. When the Yugoslav Kingdom was created in 1918 , its Western provinces (today's Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) retained Austrian laws, under which death sentences were executed by hanging, performed by a professional...