Terrorist attack near Moscow
Is the death penalty returning in Russia?
According to Vyacheslav Volodin, the death penalty will soon be reinstated in Russia. photo
© -/AP/dpa
As is now the case after the terrorist attack, the debate about the reinstatement of the death penalty continues to heat up in Moscow. It was last enforced in Russia in 1996. She could come back soon.
The head of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, supports the reinstatement of the death penalty Russia for quickly doable. “In our constitution and criminal law, no one has abolished the death penalty,” Volodin said at a parliamentary session. The Constitutional Court could decide on the application. No referendums or other decisions are necessary. There is currently a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Russia.
Leading politicians, including those from the Kremlin’s United Russia party, have spoken out in favor of reintroducing this maximum sentence following the terrorist attack near Moscow on Friday.
After the attack on the Crocus City Hall event center, in which at least 139 people died, Volodin spoke out on Friday in favor of killing the perpetrators. Now he said that a decision on reinstating the death penalty must be taken with a cool mind and after discussion.
The last execution was in 1996
The last death sentence by shooting in Russia was carried out in 1996 under then-President Boris Yeltsin. Russia then introduced a moratorium suspending the death penalty.
Duma leader Volodin has now said that after leaving the Council of Europe, Russia will no longer adhere to the international agreements in force there. Russia’s neighbor Belarus – both countries have formed a union state – is the last country in Europe to still carry out the death penalty, namely by shooting in the neck.
The debate about the re-application of the death penalty boils up again and again in Russia. The head of the Russian Constitutional Court, Valery Sorkin, spoke out against reinstating the maximum penalty in 2022. At that time, Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev called for the reintroduction of the death penalty. The moratorium can definitely be overcome if only the Constitutional Court changes its attitude, he said.
A Kremlin spokesman said on Monday that the presidential administration was not taking part in the discussion. Russian state television showed people taking part in a street poll, among whom there were clear opponents but also supporters of the death penalty. Some warned that such rulings could be used politically.
Speaker of the Parliament on the Duma website