Kremlin proceeds from moratorium on death penalty in Russia

Sergei Mironov

MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) – Russian presidential press officer Dmitry Peskov has refrained from giving detailed comments on the proposal made by Sergei Mironov, chairman of the State Duma faction A Just Russia, to use the death penalty on terrorists, saying that the Kremlin currently proceeds from a moratorium on this measure of punishment.

“It’s a very complex issue. There is a long of debate going on, but eventually it’s a decision on moratorium, which is in place. We now proceed from this moratorium,” Peskov said.

Peskov said Mironov made this proposal on Friday morning. “It’s a new proposal and therefore I cannot word any position yet,” he said.

Peskov said more detailed comments should be sought from the author of this idea. He also said the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin on this matter has not changed yet.

“No, the president has not voiced any other viewpoints,” Peskov said.

Sergei Mironov, leader of the faction A Just Russia, said earlier on Friday that the death penalty should be used for terrorist crimes as an exception.

“Today I will suggest introducing the death penalty for terrorists and their accomplices, as an exception from the rules,” Mironov told reporters on Friday before a joint meeting of the State Duma and the Federation Council on counterterrorism issues.

Mironov reiterated that international terrorism represented by the so-called Islamic State has now declared a war. “If it’s a war, a war should be won,” the politician said.

In this regard, unified efforts of the global community are extremely important, he said. “We glad that we already have allies, primarily it’s France,” he said.

Mironov said the so-called Islamic State is “a real cancerous tumor on our planet.”

The death penalty has not been legislatively abolished in Russia. In 1996, when Russia entered the Council of Europe, Russia declared a moratorium on the death penalty, which is replaced with life in prison. The moratorium expired on January 1, 2010, but the Russian Constitutional Court prolonged it in November 2009 until the moment when the State Duma will ratify the protocol on abolishing the death penalty.

 

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